Iran’s missile attack was a surprise. It should not have been.

Excerpt President Trump is in a familiar place on Iran. Massive military strikes advertised just days ago have been put on pause, and diplomacy is being given yet another chance. There is no guarantee, however, that trying to open a diplomatic window at the 11th hour will keep the door to a wider military conflict shut. Especially not after last week. On July 28, Iran engaged in its first-ever surprise ballistic missile attack on U.S. positions. To call this preemptive attack unprecedented in the history of Iranian missile operations is accurate. To think such a thing won’t happen again is folly. Behnam Ben Taleblu is the Iran program senior director and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.