If memory serves, Iran’s strategic missile program (and, presumably, its nuclear weapons programs, as well) are under the control of the Revolutionary Guard. Crush them, destroy their leadership, impair their ability to receive reliable information and transmit secure, credible orders (signals spoofing - issue phony and contradictory orders, slip false reports in throughout, and make the whole commo net just plain stink out loud) and their capacity for harm is greatly diminished. I think sometimes that a strike on the leadership would be enough to spark a retaliation, but simply impairing and degrading their c&c might be enough to reduce the likelihood of push coming to shove before the Guard and their leadership are destroyed.