The ultimate success of the U.S. and Israeli strikes, and so Trump's decision to intervene militarily, depends on how Iran chooses to react. Some analysts fear this action will accelerate Iranian efforts to build a nuclear weapon, with hardliners in Tehran now viewing it as an urgent priority.

Trump's administration spent months trying to convince Tehran to enter into a nuclear deal before it joined a bombing campaign spearheaded by Israel.

Iran’s president has ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after American airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities

Critics feared it would plunge the Middle East into a wider war. That doomsday scenario has not come to pass, at least for now: Iran made only symbolic retaliation against America; soon after, a ceasefire ended the fighting between Iran and Israel.

DUBAI - Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed half a dozen in a sweeping security crackdown that analysts say is aimed at exerting control after a brief but punishing war with Israel exposed Iran’s deep infiltration by Israeli intelligence.