and the reporting on the u.s. military attack preparation and the president's tweet in response leave the world a bit breathless tonight i want to speak 1st with iran analyst bent a little he is with the foundation of defense of democracy a think tank in washington he is joining us however from singapore where he is a currently a very good evening sir is this a needless crisis. good evening to you it could be seen as a needless crisis but why is it b. of this i think it's important to have the facts in proper place here it's needless because iran has engaged in a marked escalation that is actually quite different from the way iran prosecutes its foreign policy and national security strategy iran is in a asymmetrically strong country with conventionally weak country when it comes to military power so iran tends not to engage in direct confrontations iran's decision