I'll repost what I posted here: #1012351

We'll see where this heads. I'm not sure how much capacity Iran has to truly retaliate, as I don't think it has many friends in the region. I don't know if Russia is willing to come in and escalate when it already has its hands full in Ukraine--it also doesn't want to risk pulling Europe even further into its entanglements. China is the big wild card. Will it come out in support of Iran and if so, how? I'm not even sure how much escalation there will be in western countries in terms of terrorism... most of the terrorist attacks in western countries have been by Sunni muslims, I believe, and Iran is a Shia country.

As much as I hate to say it, because it would seem to justify warmongering, but the best possible outcome in terms of least bloodshed and chaos, would be that this is a western "big dick" moment and the Iranian regime is genuinely cowed into submission. I don't think that's gonna happen, but the alternatives feel way worse.