Israel is braced for a potentially major escalation in its conflict with Iran after a US intelligence assessment warned that Tehran could in the coming days order a strike on military and government targets inside the country.
Israeli ministers have vowed that if Tehran takes direct military action then they will respond with their own strikes on Iranian territory, opening the door to a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.
Iran has always been a cautious, calculating regime which has long sought to avoid direct, open conflict with Israel and instead relies on a network of proxies based in southern Lebanon and Syria to harass the country with sporadic rocket and drone attacks.
