Latest Middle East News: Two Iranian Soldiers ‘Killed in Israeli Attack’; Starmer warns Tehran not to react

Any Iranian response to an Israeli attack is unlikely to include further missiles aimed at Israeli territory and could instead be carried out through Iranian proxies in the region, the analyst said.

Robert Clarke, a fellow at the Yorktown Institute and director of Civitas’ defense and security division, told Sky News that “Iran still has ways to respond that are below the threshold of conflict or escalation.”

“I think there will almost certainly be an Iranian response, but more often than not we can see it in their widespread use of proxies,” he said.

Iran has created a network of proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Mr Clarke said Tehran was “unlikely to send more ballistic and cruise missiles to Tel Aviv or directly to Jerusalem”.

“This is by no means certain. But I think the scale of the damage that we’re seeing… does give the Iranian regime the opportunity to have a much more limited response.”