Iran’s retaliatory attack on Saturday — which swarmed Israeli airspace with hundreds of drones and missiles, while causing relatively limited damage — was unprecedented, but calibrated to show deterrence without provoking an all-out war, according to experts who spoke to NBC News.

Within hours of the strike, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, issued a statement saying the attack had “concluded and we are not willing to continue it.”

An…