'US patience is being tested very hard'

For so long a distant threat, war between the United States and Iran is now edging closer. Chris Hughes assesses the unwelcome escalation.

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A civil defence team carries out search and rescue operations in a damaged building following a missile strike launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Kurdistan region's capital of Erbil, on January 17. (Photo by SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)

Experts and commentators have for many years chimed on about America and Iran being poised for war but the threat has been no more than a slightly uncomfortable background noise.

But this week, it seems, it has become serious.

One of the most respected Middle East and terrorism experts, Ali Soufan, has indicated he believes they are edging towards war.

And interestingly, as well as worryingly, Soufan - who was one of the FBI’s top counter-terror operators -  suspects that the two sides may be unable to avoid conflict.

This was triggered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps firing missiles into peaceful Erbil, in northern Iraq, killing several people and injuring perhaps more than a dozen.

People put flowers over the graves of Iraqi businessman Peshraw Dizayee, and his one-year-old daughter Zhina, who were killed in the missile attack. Photo by GAILAN HAJI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutter​stock

They were, they say, trying to target an Israeli Mossad HQ which is or was, they claim, situated close to the US consulate.