Israel may be trying to take advantage of a window: Iran has reportedly not yet rebuilt air defences which were degraded by an Israeli attack in October, and Iran’s strongest proxy in the region, Hezbollah in Lebanon, has been significantly weakened by Israeli action.

Israel struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear, missile and military complex early Friday, in an unprecedented attack that reportedly killed three of Iran’s most powerful figures and plunges the wider Middle East into dangerous new territory.