India, March 20 -- It was supposed to be a Venezuela-style shock-and-awe operation when it started. The US and Israel would eliminate Iran's top leadership, the people would rise, and voila, the "most oppressive and dangerous regime" in West Asia would end for good. Implications for energy security for the world at large and higher-order disruptions on account of the shock of launching a war in the epicentre of the global oil-and-gas economy were, perhaps, never even discussed.

The world is having to live with a very different scenario three weeks after the war started. Multiple targeted assassinations have, so far, failed to trigger a collapse of the regime in Iran. The people seem to be rallying in favour of the State. The only shock-a...