Trump's comments on Iran suggest he underestimated how the country would react to the strikes and the killing of a top religious leader, a bad sign for anyone hoping the conflict cools down.

• Trump said the US could wipe out Iran's leadership "with one shot" but won't, because then there'd be no one left to negotiate with.
• He claimed he was surprised to see Iranians crying at the funeral, suggesting the grief might be fake — a sign he expected Iranians to welcome the bombing.
• Killing Iran's grand ayatollah is compared to killing the pope for Shiite Muslims, and predictably rallied the public around the flag rather than turning them against their government.
• Casualty numbers are disputed, with official figures near 3,000 dead while other estimates run far higher.
• The claim is that US and Israeli intelligence badly misjudged Iranian public opinion, and that pro-war voices dominate American TV coverage.

Outlook: Expect continued tension with Iran and little appetite for negotiation, since the strikes appear to have hardened Iranian public opinion rather than weakened the regime.