Iran's feared military retaliation against Israel began this Saturday with the launch of several dozen drones at 11 p.m. local time.

The attack was announced by Israel and confirmed in a matter of minutes by the United States and Tehran itself, which spoke of “drones and missiles” Israel was on high alert throughout Saturday. During the afternoon, Tehran forces had assaulted a ship linked to an Israeli businessman in the Strait of Hormuz. The actors with the most standing on the international stage, especially those who have a direct line with both governments, face the challenge of finding the formula so that a total war does not break out, writes Peter Bergen, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and British Foreign Secretary. The international community had been warning and perhaps crossed a point of no return when Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 to kill a high-ranking military commander, he says. These are crucial hours to avoid, if it did not start last night, a regional war in the Middle East that would have immediate global repercussions.