"The missile threat has proven to be a paper tiger," says Mr Jeffrey.

“I think it’s a serious paper tiger we’re dealing with here. I don’t think for 60 days they can keep the train on the tracks.”

The escalation was designed to show the world that Iran was a "paper tiger", said Fawaz Gerges, professor of International Relations at London School of Economics.

We have 11 months to find out if this paper tiger can become a real one.

“We were planning to make some gains and take prisoners to exchange them. This army was a paper tiger.”