Despite stunning early successes in Israel’s unprecedented strikes on Iran, a weekend of intensive bombardment and retaliation is raising questions about Israel’s exit strategy – how it can end this conflict with its ambitious goals achieved.

Israel’s campaign, militarily and rhetorically, has quickly evolved beyond its initial targets. Over the weekend, it hit Iran’s energy facilities, including a gas depot and an oil refinery, triggering huge fires and spewing smoke across the sprawling capital of about ten million people.

The most frightening scenario, considering the strategy Israel has employed in Lebanon, would be a series of attacks targeting lower-level figures, which could escalate to higher-level figures depending on the response or lack thereof, creating an even more frightening scenario than the current one.