An alleged Israeli retaliation to Iran's unparalleled provocations prompts the next pressing query: what will Iran do next?
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has promised a "massive and harsh" response to Israel's "tiniest invasion."
In the tumultuous history of shadow wars and clandestine attacks between two powers with enduring public hatred, this is unknown territory.
Since Israel's airstrikes on its diplomatic facility in Damascus on April 1, which resulted in the deaths of seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including its most senior commander in the region, Iran's military authorities have discussed a "new equation."
Tehran says its old doctrine of “strategic patience,” of playing a longer game when its assets and individuals are attacked, has ended.
Now it’s “strategic deterrence” – a readiness to hit back hard immediately.
In these first fateful hours, Iranian officials are speaking of no direct attack, no damage. Their next move may depend on how they cast this latest shot in this spiralling tit for tat.