The latest Middle East: Two Iranian soldiers ‘killed in Israeli attack’; Starmer warns Tehran not to respond

Any Iranian response to Israel’s attack is unlikely to involve new missiles aimed at Israeli territory and could instead come through Iranian proxies in the region, one analyst said.

Robert Clark, a fellow at the Yorktown Institute and director of the defense and security unit at Civitas, told Sky News that “there are still ways that Iran can respond that are below the threshold of conflict or escalation”.

“I think there will almost certainly be an Iranian response, but most of the time we can see that through the widespread use of proxies,” he said.

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

Clark said it is “unlikely that Tehran will send more ballistic and cruise missiles to Tel Aviv, directly to Jerusalem.”

“That’s not at all certain. But I think the extent of the damage that we can see … gives the Iranian regime the ability to provide a much more limited response.”