The Caspian Sea

Israel struck Iranian naval targets in the Caspian Sea, the first time attacks have extended to that body of water since the war began. Until now, operations against Iran's navy had been concentrated in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, where the US says it has destroyed or damaged more than 120 vessels. The Caspian is something else entirely.

The Caspian Sea is a landlocked body of water shared by five countries: Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It has no outlet to the ocean. Striking there means Israeli aircraft operated in a zone surrounded by Russian, Azeri and Turkmen airspace. The details of the operation are unknown, but the geography suggests the aircraft entered through northern Iran or overflew a third country's territory. In either case, the operation dramatically expands the theatre of war.

Russia has its Caspian Flotilla based in Astrakhan. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have oil infrastructure on the Caspian coast. Israel operating militarily in that space introduces risks that go well beyond the bilateral conflict. Netanyahu said yesterday the war would be "recorded in the annals of Israel." Perhaps. But the annals tend to include chapters nobody planned to write.