Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s futureIran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and...

Country’s leaders took time to weigh response to Iran’s strike under gaze of allies urging restraintMiddle East crisis: live updatesJust before dawn on Friday the explosions of air defence systems woke Iranians across the historic city of Isfahan. The breaking news alerts that followed roused people around the world, to worry that the region had moved...

Tit-for-tat attacks have breached taboo of direct strikes on each other’s territory but Tehran has no ‘immediate’ plans to retaliateWorld leaders urged calm on Friday after Israel conducted a pre-dawn drone sortie over Iran following a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that crossed an important red line that has for decades held the Middle East back from...

Both Iran and Israel are calibrating their responses. That does not mean the region should breathe easyThe danger facing the Middle East is not from wild or impulsive action, but from the considered decisions of men who believe they know what they are doing and how their opponents will respond. Their confidence is not reassuring when their judgment...

Israel launched a limited attack on Iranian soil on Friday morning, in the latest tit-for-tat between the two countriesAll our coverage of the Israel-Gaza warIsrael launched an attack on Iranian soil on Friday, in a tit-for-tat battle between the two foes, days after Iran launched an unprecedented strike on Israel with a barrage of drones and missiles,...

Response raises hopes that Tehran may have shelved reprisal threats and that escalation can be avoidedMiddle East crisis: live updatesIsrael has mounted airstrikes on Iran, US confirmsWhat’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilitiesTehran has played down the impact of Israeli airstrikes carried out against Iran, raising hopes that a cycle...