Demonstrators wave Iranian and Palestinian flags to celebrate the launch of a drone and missile attack on Israel, at Palestine Square in Tehran on April 14.
Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Big Take
Iran’s Attack on Israel Sparks Race to Avert a Full-Blown War
US officials and their allies are focusing efforts now on ensuring any retaliation from Israel doesn’t raise the stakes too high.
The huge salvo of missiles and drones launched from the arid plains of Iran toward Israel was the kind of direct conflict between the Middle East powers that the world had long feared would mark the explosion of a full-blown regional war.
But behind the unprecedented nature of the attack was a dance of diplomatic signaling that allowed both sides to claim success, raising the risk of a broader conflict without making it a certainty.