Across foreign ministries, “reserves all options” became shorthand for missiles, proxies, or something more severe. Allies pressed Washington for facts while warning that a confirmed strike on nuclear sites would cross a dangerous line—one that could make preemptive attacks on nuclear infrastructure seem acceptable elsewhere.
At the United Nations, delegates prepared emergency resolutions few expected to halt events. The debate had already shifted. The question was no longer what had occurred, but what Iran now believed it had to do, as the world waited to see whether the next move would stay in the shadows or break into the open.
