Hollie, you must understand that Iran is being crushed rapidly. It made the mistake of becoming a terrorist state for the last 45+ years. It has killed thousands of Americans and Israelis over that span. The US has shown enormous restraint over that time period, but now the US has elected a president who has come to collect on the debt owed by the Iranians. To boot, the president who got elected might have been the target of Iranian assassination attempts.
This IS going to escalate into a full-blown war. Trump is warning Iran not to retaliate. He's given them a number of avenues to de-escalate prior to the strikes. The Ayatollah has gone into hiding and can't be reached by his inner circle. In essence, he sees the writing on the wall.
Long story short, Iran is operating on fear. They aren't going to survive this. It has invoked the wrath of two nuclear powers, and the nuclear powers that ally with it are reticent to help it. It has already angered China by choosing to close the Strait of Hormuz. It's essentially lashing out like a cornered animal.