Critics feared it would plunge the Middle East into a wider war. That doomsday scenario has not come to pass, at least for now: Iran made only symbolic retaliation against America; soon after, a ceasefire ended the fighting between Iran and Israel.

Even the prospect of civil war cannot be ruled out,' an expert tracking growing violence in the West Bank told Newsweek.

A direct Iran-Israel war has shattered old balances, forcing Middle Eastern capitals and global powers to reassess strategies as nuclear fears and shifting alliances reshape the region’s future.