Israel’s massive attack on Iran which began last Friday caught many observers off guard, but the warning signals were there to see (the US suddenly evacuating diplomatic staff from its local embassies is rarely a good sign).
Applying the Iraq war playbook, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has claimed pre-emptive action was necessary because Tehran is on the brink of producing a nuclear weapon – intelligence it has not yet made public, and which appears to conflict with the assessments of both the US and the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
