West Asia is on the boil as Israel extended its conflict with Gaza into Iran igniting a spiral of attacks as the Iranians retaliated and Israel seeks to remain on top of the escalatory ladder and strategic dominance. The background to this escalation is clear. Israel carried out missile strikes on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria on 1 April, killing two Iranian generals and some others. A country’s embassy is considered sovereign territory and this amounts to an attack on the country concerned (Vienna Convention), who has the right to retaliate under international law. Israel’s purposeful erosion of diplomatic immunity and norms has not been condemned by countries who advocate a “rules-based order” to curb the anarchy in the inter­national system. Sensibly, countries outside the collective West—including India—regretted this attack calling for de-escalation