Iran's unprecedented retaliation on Israel early Sunday marked a shift in Tehran's strategy, moving away from relying solely on proxies in the Middle East since the onset of Israel's latest rampage on Gaza.
With all eyes on Israel's potential response, Washington seeks diplomatic avenues to ease regional tensions.
Iran claims the attack was in retaliation for an airstrike, widely attributed to Israel, that destroyed Iran's consular offices in Syria and killed two Revolutionary Guard generals earlier this month.
Israel reported that its anti-missile defense system, supported by the U.S. and Britain, successfully intercepted almost all of the over 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran overnight.
The only reported casualty was a wounded girl in southern Israel and a missile caused light damage to an Israeli air base.
Despite this, Iran's Revolutionary Guard chief deemed the operation a success.
Mona Yacoubian, vice president of the Middle East and North Africa center at the U.S. Institute of Peace, noted that Iran has managed to retaliate publicly for the strike in Damascus while avoiding provoking immediate further Israeli military action, which could escalate into a broader conflict.
"Both (Iran and Israel) are able at this point to claim victory and step down off the precipice, particularly since there were no Israeli civilians killed," Yacoubian said.
The world was still waiting, however, for the result of an Israeli War Cabinet meeting on Sunday. Israeli hard-liners have pushed for a response, but others have suggested restraint, saying Israel should focus on strengthening budding ties with Arab partners.
"We will build a regional coalition and collect the price from Iran in the way and at the time that suits us," said Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet.
Analysts say Iran sent a message that it would be willing to escalate and change its rules of engagement in its shadow war with Israel.
"It's a warning shot, saying that if Israel breaks the rules, there are consequences," said Magnus Ranstorp, strategic adviser at the Swedish Defense University.
Iran's attack has further stoked fears of the war in Gaza causing regional havoc.
But Iran maintains that it does not seek an all-out war across the region.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Iran has "no intention of continuing defensive operations" at this point unless it is attacked.
Iran stressed that it targeted Israeli facilities involved in the Damascus attack, not civilians or "economic areas."
After Israel began its offensive against Palestinians in Gaza, Iran-backed groups have been active while Tehran sat on the sidelines.
Lebanon's Hezbollah group fired rockets into northern Israel.
Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Western ships on the Red Sea.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias attacked U.S. military positions in Iraq and Syria.
Now, Tehran is "willing to up the ante" without relying on proxies, said the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, Maha Yahya.
Still, Iran has only gone so far.
"They gave enough warning that this was coming, and I think they knew that they (the drones and missiles) would be brought down before they reached Israeli territory," Yahya said.
She also noted that the recent mounting pressure on Israel over its conduct in Gaza has now shifted to deescalating regional tensions instead.
Yacoubian says Washington has a critical role to play in avoiding further escalations.
Israel taking further military action does not seem popular among its allies, including the U.S., said Eldad Shavit, who heads the Israel-U.S. Research Program at Israeli think tank the Institute for National Security Studies.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told NBC that President Joe Biden does not want an escalation in the regional conflict or a "wider war" with Iran and is "working on the diplomatic side of this personally."
Urgent meetings of the G7 - the informal gathering of industrialized countries that includes the U.S., U.K. and France – and the U.N. Security Council were being held Sunday.
G7 meeting participants unanimously condemned Iran's attack, saying "We stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilizing initiatives."
