Israel stunned Iran last week with an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision.

In its airstrikes, Israel has targeted the assets and leadership of the Quds Force, an arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said there will be some surprises amid the conflict with Iran that will make Israel's beeper operation look "simple."

The airstrikes on the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, an area where Hezbollah holds sway, were some of the heaviest since a U.S.-brokered cease-fire came into effect in November.

Israel recently conducted airstrikes damaging Iranian installations. The US may join the conflict. Once, the US and Iran had strong ties. A US-backed coup ousted Iran's PM in 1953. The Shah era saw nuclear cooperation.

An Iranian state television reporter stopped a live broadcast when an explosion occurred an hour after Israel issued a warning to evacuate the area of Tehran where the TV studios are located.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to help the United States mediate a peace deal between Israel and Iran as tensions rise in the Middle East.

But Israel's formidable and sophisticated military forces - with an arsenal largely, but not exclusively, provided by the United States - are enabling it to overpower a much larger enemy. The BBC looks at the military balance in the latest war in the Middle East.