Seven nights in a row. That is how many the US military has counted since it started hitting targets in Iran, and Tehran hit back beyond its own borders - this time against military sites in Kuwait and Jordan. The escalation many hoped would fizzle out is instead spreading to new fronts.

According to Centcom, the seventh straight night of operations struck military logistics infrastructure and other locations inside Iran. Iranian forces, for their part, claim they hit a military camp and an air base in Kuwait, plus another base to the east in Jordan. State television pushed the claims out via Telegram - which means that, as in every war, the first casualty is any verifiable truth.

„More than 50,000 American troops are operating across the Middle East and remain on standby, ready for combat operations", Centcom announced. The number is not highlighted by accident - it is a message to Tehran and its allies alike: the capacity to escalate is right here.

When a war jumps from Iran into Kuwait and Jordan, it stops being a duel between two countries and becomes a regional fire. The Balkans know scenes like this by heart - a conflict that starts „limited", then drags in neighbours who wanted nothing to do with it. The question hanging over all of it is simple: who pulls the lever before the seventh night becomes the forty-seventh?