As the US weighs joining Israel’s assault on Iran, questions are mounting over whether such an intervention could trigger regime change in Tehran – an outcome that risks splintering the country and sending shockwaves across the region.

By Andrew MacAskill, Federico Maccioni and Pesha Magid LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) -Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear installations so far pose only limited risks of contamination, experts say. But they warn that any attack on the country's nuclear power station at Bushehr could cause a nuclear disaster.

Other legal scholars see it differently, arguing that Israel’s military operation in Iran is part of a defensive response to armed attacks by Iran and its proxies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.