TEHRAN — The Islamic Republic is presenting this week's military exchange with Israel as far more than a limited round of retaliation. In Tehran's telling, the confrontation marked the emergence of a new regional reality — one in which attacks on Iran's allies, particularly in Lebanon, can trigger direct Iranian military action.

The messaging campaign that followed the June 7-8 escalation has been remarkably consistent. From senior military commanders to state-affiliated newspapers and broadcasters, the statements converge around a single theme: The rules of engagement have changed.

The aerial exchange began after Israeli strikes targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. Iran responded with missile attacks on Israeli targets, the first direct Iranian strikes on Israel since the April ceasefire that followed the broader Iran-Israel confrontation. Israel subsequently pounded Iranian targets, including radar installations and a petrochemical facility in the southwest, prompting further Iranian missile attacks.

Yet the significance Tehran assigns to the episode extends well beyond the military dimension.