"Now, we might say that there have been some attacks by Iranian partners or some might say proxies, etc., but Iran itself has not launched a single direct attack against Israel until Saturday night. So clearly, the attack on the consulate was too much to bear and was also kind of the last straw on the camel's back," Mr. Jeenah says.
"The current Israeli government has proven itself not to be a rational actor, very ideologically driven, driven by racism, certainly hatred of the Iranians and hatred of the Palestinians," the expert explains.
"If that happens, I think that we would be at the cusp of a possible regional war that could engulf the region bringing other players into the mix, and possibly go beyond the region and bring players outside the region, such as the United States into the mix, and we could be looking at an extremely messy situation," he says.