Is the Israel - Iran conflict really the start of World War Three? Not just yet, writes Sean O'Grady – the US embassy in Tel Aviv suffering damage may turn out to be the high watermark of danger. The conflict in the Middle East escalated sharply on Tuesday night as Iran launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel - in retaliation killings of Hezbollah militant leaders and strikes. Israel has launched a direct attack on Iran under Operation Rising Dawn, shaking global geopolitics. Iran , which has consistently targeted Israel through proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, is now openly engaged in this conflict. Since Israel began its military campaign against Iran on June 13, some in Tehran have raised the prospect of withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to signal Iran 's determination to accelerate enrichment, but experts say that would represent a considerable escalation and likely draw a forceful response from Washington. We ' re not in World War III , but this conflict mirrors its early stages with alliances, proxy involvement, ideological clashes, and global fallout. The key difference is that we can still prevent it if diplomacy, rather than ego, guides our actions. The Israel-Iran conflict has sharply escalated in 2024 , with a direct Iranian missile barrage on Israel in October marking a turning point. This attack followed an Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanon aimed at weakening Hezbollah, Iran’s key proxy in the region. Tehran and its proxy terror groups have vowed vengeance for the recent assassinations, with Hezbollah even launching approximately 50 rockets toward Upper Galilee in Israel last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel was behind the strike on Natanz in Friday's (June 13) attack, a site which has previously been hit by the Stuxnet cyberattack and.
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