Iran's recent missile tests have heightened speculation that the U.S. or Israeli will mount a military operation against it. Carnegie's Karim Sadjadpour, appeared on PBS' Foreign Exchange arguing the likelihood of such an attack is slim because Iran plays key roles in many of the U.S. and EU's main foreign policy concerns in the Middle East.
Sadjapour believes that Iranian President Ahmadinejad takes this increasingly confrontational stance against the West as a way to distract domestic attention away from his failed economic policies.
As Sadjadpour notes, "When [Iran] issues... blusterous rhetoric, and the U.S. decides to respond... with its own blusterous rhetoric, oil prices go up and it's more money for Iran."