This is an unprecedented moment - but what the US and Iran do next could be even more momentous

Now, the commander-in-chief, who promised to be a president of peace, has crossed this Rubicon with direct military strikes on Tehran's nuclear sites – the most consequential move yet in the second term of a president who has prided himself on breaking all the old rules. "But we're already seeing arguments by regime supporters that, regardless of the extent of actual damage the US might have inflicted, the image of Iran as a strong country [and] as a regional power, has been shaken so dramatically [that] it requires a response." Closing the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway for a fifth of global oil traffic, could also backfire by upsetting Arab allies in the region, as well as China, the main customer of Iran's own oil.