Tehran has remained vague about exactly how it will respond to the attack that killed seven members of its Revolutionary Guard.
Iran has vowed to punish Israel over a recent strike on its Damascus consulate widely blamed on Israel, and fears are rising that an imminent response could risk triggering a broader conflict.
However, there are a number of different ways that Iran could retaliate, and not all pose the same risk of escalation, according to experts.
With warnings building on Friday that a response could come soon, France advised its citizens not to travel to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iran or its ally Lebanon.
But exactly what happens next likely depends on how Iran chooses to carry out its retaliation, which would likely come against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The fact that none of the governments involved want to provoke an escalation does not necessarily protect against a full-scale crisis breaking out, said David Khalfa, Middle East specialist at the French think tank Jean-Jaures Foundation.
“Miscalculations are entirely possible. Deterrence has an eminently psychological aspect,” he said.
“The belligerents are at the mercy of any mistake or slip-up that could cause a cascading series of consequences.”
The air strike that struck Iran’s consulate building in the Syrian capital on April 1 killed 16 people, including seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The most senior figure killed was Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, which runs Iran’s foreign military operations.
