A former director of intelligence at Israeli spy agency Mossad has told Sky News it was “shocking” how quickly Israel “took down” Iran’s air defences.

On 13 June, the Israeli military, in an operation called “Rising Lion”, started carrying out aerial attacks on Iran, hitting sites including some of its most important nuclear installations.

Israel said Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb – something Tehran has always denied seeking from its uranium enrichment programme.

Since those air attacks, both countries have been trading daily missile strikes.

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Ex-Mossad boss Zohar Palti told The World With Yalda Hakim that it took his country’s air force 36-48 hours to “dominate completely” the skies above Iran.

“This is shocking in a way. This is amazing,” he said.

He added: “We thought that it would be much harder, you know, because I don’t want to brag or do things like that. I mean, it was much more fast than we anticipated.”

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Mr Palti said he believes that in two days to a week, Israel “can call” a ceasefire.

“We will need of course the international community and when I say the international community, it’s basically the Americans in this case and no doubt we will need the support of the E3, meaning the Europeans,” he added.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and points to its right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment.

Mr Palti said the Americans have the ability to “take all the [Iranian] regime in a couple of hours”.

He said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was at a “crossroads” and had two options – “the existence of the regime” or “give up his inspiration right now to build a military nuclear bomb. I think it’s an easy decision”.

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Some Israeli officials have admitted Israel won’t be able to completely destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, unless US bombers drop ordnance that can penetrate sites buried deep underground.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any US strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them” and that his country would not bow to Donald Trump’s call for surrender.

On Wednesday, President Trump would not say whether he has decided to order an American strike on Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Monday that Israel’s control of Iranian airspace was “a game-changer”.

And national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said pilots could operate “against countless more targets” over Tehran, thanks to the destruction of “dozens and dozens” of air defence batteries.

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In the latest bombing, Israel said its air force destroyed the headquarters of Iran’s internal security service.

A British man – the sole survivor of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad – has been discharged from hospital, the airline has confirmed.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, has since been seen in video as a pallbearer for the coffin of his brother – one of the 241 people killed in the crash – at a funeral in western India.

At least 30 people also died on the ground as the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner struck a medical college hostel shortly after take-off from the airport in the state of Gujarat on Thursday.

In a statement, Air India said it was “in mourning for the tragic loss” of passengers and crew aboard flight AI171 and is in contact with relatives of those killed, including 52 British nationals.

It said it was working to repatriate the deceased to the UK and other parts of the world, adding: “The sole survivor of the accident, also a British national, has been discharged from hospital.”

“The investigation is ongoing,” it said. “We are cooperating with all parties involved and are committed to sharing verified information and will continue to provide updates wherever we can.”

On flight AI171 to Gatwick, there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian among the passengers, along with 12 crew.

The only survivor, Mr Ramesh, was in seat 11A, near the emergency exit. Speaking from his hospital bed on Friday, he said he “still can’t believe” he survived.

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Dozens of anxious family members are waiting to collect the bodies of loved ones as doctors work to gather dental samples and perform DNA profiling to identify victims.

Air India and the Indian government are looking at issues linked to engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained extended, or in the down position, after take-off.

Both the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, also called black boxes, have been recovered. They will be crucial to the crash investigation, which includes air accident investigators from the UK and US.

India’s aviation safety watchdog has asked Air India for the training records of the pilots and dispatchers, while an inspection of Air India’s 787 fleet did not reveal any major issues.

While there has not been an update on the possible cause of the crash, Indian officials have raised concerns about recent maintenance-related issues reported by the airline and advised the carrier to “strictly adhere to regulations”.

Russia is getting nervous about Donald Trump’s trigger finger, and it shows.

Comments from deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov – warning the US against joining Israel’s military campaign – betray Moscow’s growing unease that it could be about to lose its closest Middle Eastern ally.

Russia has strong ties with Iran, which have deepened since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

These were formalised in a strategic partnership pact the two countries signed at the start of the year.

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So, at first, Russia seemed to view its ally’s conflict with Israel as an opportunity to gain leverage. The Kremlin was quick to offer its services as a potential mediator.

If Vladimir Putin could persuade Tehran to back down and return to nuclear talks with Washington, he’d potentially have a favour to cash in with the White House over its military support for Ukraine.

But the offers to mediate fell on deaf ears.

And with Mr Trump threatening to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, Moscow has switched to crisis mode – fearful of losing its second key regional ally in six months, after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.

So, as well as Ryabkov, other senior figures have taken to the airwaves.

Russia’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin called the situation “critical”.

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And, according to ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the world is “millimetres away from catastrophe” due to Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

It’s quite the spectacle – a country that’s been waging war on its neighbour for more than three years is now urging others to show military restraint.

That’s because US involvement poses serious consequences, not just for Iran, but for Russia too.