From the perspective of the top ranks of the Israel Defense Forces, this time there is no doubt: Israel concluded the round of war against Iran with a clear victory. Severe damage was inflicted on the Iranian nuclear project and the country's missile systems, and the leadership in Tehran, which lost many of its senior figures, also lost the relative sense of confidence with which it acted in the region.

The Iranian nuclear programme has been set back, but it may also have been entrenched and invigorated

Officials in Iran were claiming victory, saying that its armed forces had imposed a truce on Israel. But defeat seemed a more accurate reading of recent events.