Last night, the government of Israel decided to roll the dice on a military solution to Iran’s decades-long pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. Given the remarkable capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces, the operation could do tremendous damage to the Iranian nuclear program. But then comes the hard part.

Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran's vows of reprisals have brought the two Middle East adversaries closer to an all-out war, which also threatens to draw in the United States, at least to some degree.

In the face of Israel’s far-reaching strikes Friday, it’s not clear that Iran – its longtime foe – has the capacity to muster the furious response that might be expected.

Oil prices have surged while global shares are lower after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military targets in an attack that raised the risk of all-out war between them