The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity.

This is a global player original podcast.

We've woken up in the early hours of this morning to learn that Israel has launched an attack on Iran.

Now, we are being told that this attack is limited, but the fact remains that Israel has launched an attack on Iran. Now we are being told that this attack is limited,

but the fact remains that Israel has attacked Iran almost a week after Iran attacked Israel.

So the situation here is escalating.

The Middle East, the world, not for the first time in these long six months since October the 7th, has been holding its breath.

Ever since Iran fired 300 rockets into Israel, itself a response to Israel's killing of several senior Iranian military figures in Damascus.

That dreaded word, escalation, has haunted the conversation. The grim realization that

the region, maybe more than the region, is just one mistake, one miscalculation away from all-out

war in every direction. Overnight, the promised Israeli retaliation to the Iranian attacks came,

with missiles directed to the heart of Iran itself

in the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz. And yet, the word on Friday wasn't one of the next round

of deadly tip-for-tat, of Iranian mobilisation and Israeli counter-mobilisation, but instead

of everyone, including the Iranians, playing down what had taken place.

So for today's episode, we have a very simple question.

Is this it? Can we exhale again?

And for how long?

What is this shadow war between Israel and Iran?

And if it is one, will it stay in the darkness?

It's Lewis here. Welcome to the newsagents.

The news agents.

...