Out of the shadows A Pandora's box has been opened, and this crisis is far from over

Israel’s retaliation was surprisingly limited. Iran minimised the significance of last Friday’s air attacks on a military base near Isfahan and other targets, denying they were externally directed.

- Simon Tisdall

Usually voluble Israeli spokesmen fell strangely silent. It was as if a tacit bilateral agreement had been made to play down the affair – to quietly de-escalate. Both countries required that honour be satisfied – but wanted to avoid another noisy public row. Each has fired directly at the other, causing symbolic damage. Now they are signalling it’s over – at least for the time being .

If true, it’s a huge, though possibly temporary, relief. It suggests that intense US pressure on Israel to exercise restraint, abetted by Britain and others, paid off. President Joe Biden had urged Israel to “take the win” after Iran’s unprecedented, large-scale air attack on 13 April was successfully repulsed. Its leaders didn’t wholly concur. It is not in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s DNA to turn the other cheek. In the event, his measured response reflects enhanced US leverage. Crucial US assistance in defending Israel could not be ignored.