What the U.S. and Iran Are Fighting Over

General Ahmad Vahidi has a talent for getting under Donald Trump’s skin. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” President Trump recently said of the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and his colleagues. “They’re scum. They’re sick people. . . .As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

But of course it isn’t over. On Friday, Iranian ballistic missiles and drones slammed into Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, killing two American service members, leaving a third missing, and wounding four others. The IRGC claimed responsibility within hours.

Vahidi launched the attack not simply to answer Trump. He was also sending a message to Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the officials negotiating with Washington. You may sit across the table from the Americans, the strike in Jordan signaled to them, but I am the man really calling the shots.