A foreign affairs expert says the weekend's escalation in the Middle East reflects "the rapid erosion of international norms and rules" — but says "there's [also] a bit of theatre" in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Iran said the attack was retaliation for a airstrike widely attributed to Israel that killed two Revolutionary Guard generals at Iranian consular offices in Syria earlier this month.
Israel said almost every one of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran were shot down.
Yesterday's escalation followed a number of clashes between Israel and Iran-backed groups including Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
International relations expert Robert Patman told Breakfast the defence of Israel was a "pretty Herculean effort".
"Iran did say they would retaliate after the Israeli attack ... on Iranian diplomatic premises," he said.
"I think the surprise was that many of us expected Iran's retaliation to come in the shape of its allies or proxies in the region."
It remains to be seen whether Israel retaliates for the weekend's strikes. The US has warned against escalation.
"But America and its allies have just assisted Israel to successfully weather this massive drone attack," Patman said.
"One person was slightly injured, that's all — which was a pretty Herculean effort, given the intensity of the attack.
"But the Iranians had telegraphed it, so there's a bit of theatre here," he explained.
"The Iranians wanted to save face, they were disappointed the international community — in particular the United States – didn't rebuke Israel for that attack on diplomatic premises. I don't think our own government said anything either.
"We have to be very careful here because we seem to be witnessing the rapid erosion of international norms and rules."
The US wasn't given advanced warning by Israel ahead of the attack on the Iranian consular offices in Damascus, he also said.
And the attack "creates a worrying precedent", Patman said, explaining that it was illegal under international law.
"Under the Vienna Convention, diplomatic premises are considered to be the territory of the state in question.
"Iran interpreted the attack, which killed six people including three senior officials, as an attack on its direct national sovereignty."
'There is a contradiction here'
Patman emphasised that the US doesn't want a regional war.
"The United States is working hard behind the scenes to prevent that happening," he said.
"But there is a contradiction here. Unconditional support for Israel is fuelling regional discontent.
"Iran has been provided an opportunity by America's support for Israel in Gaza to advance its own agenda.
"It's expressing solidarity with the Palestinians through its proxies, but also, it's pushing forward itself as a counter to Israel and the United States in the Middle east region."
'Two wrongs don't make a right'
Patman said the US and UK had been "quite selective" in their condemnations.
"They didn't condemn or rebuke Israel for the attack on diplomatic premises in Damascus, which is a breach on the Vienna Convention as far as I can see," he said. "That's a serious development.
"They remained silent on that and now they've got widespread condemnation for Iran's response.
"Two wrongs don't make a right," he continued. "I don't like the fact that Iran responded in this way, which is provocative and escalatory — but, we have to look at the circumstances which generated it.
"Israel gave Iran some pretext to act in the way that it did and that's unfortunate in a very tense situation."
'New rules of deterrence' being explored
Middle East policy expert Nader Hashemi said Israel "upped the ante" with its strike on an Iranian consulate building. (Source: Breakfast)
Middle East policy expert Nader Hashemi told Breakfast that Israel "upped the ante" with its strike on the consulate building.
"I think Iran has calculated that it needed to sort of demonstrate that it has the capacity to push back," he said. "What I'm reading from Tehran today is, they're trying to establish new rules of deterrence against Israel to prevent these types of attacks from happening."
He echoed Patman's assessment of the "theatre" behind Iran's retaliation.
"Iran launched those attacks, drones and missiles, not to produce casualties but to produce a spectacle," Hashemi said.
"We're in very dangerous territory here."
Government condemns 'shocking and illegal' Iran strikes
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden joined Breakfast to discuss the strikes. (Source: Breakfast)
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have issued a joint statement condemning Iran's strikes.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden joined Breakfast to discuss the strikes after the Government's statement.
"This was a retaliation, I think that Iran has been very clever in how they've gone about [retaliating]," she said.
"They've asked the rest of the world to stop and they've said that they've completed what their retaliation action was.
"So, I think New Zealand should just stay out of it."
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