With the repercussions of the US-Israel strikes on Iran continuing to be felt, many people’s minds are turning to the worst-case scenario of nuclear war and what, if anything, would survive in the aftermath.Following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday (28 February), which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on US military facilities across the Middle East.Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan have all reported missile or drone strikes believed to be from Iran.Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack Iran, also firing missiles at Lebanon and promising troops on the ground to ‘advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon in order to prevent fire on Israeli border communities’.

Both Russia and China have interests in the region, with Russia relying on Iranian drones and China on Iranian oil.Meanwhile, Iran’s proxy militias – Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen, and Shia militias across Iraq and Syria – could also be drawn into the conflict.We don’t know what will happen next, only that more people are going to die and the possibility of further escalation is on the table, and the final, most catastrophic option looms over all.Nuclear war that wipes out the planet is unlikely to happen soon, as nuclear-armed powers aren’t at war with each other, but just in case that changes, bestselling author Annie Jacobsen, who penned the cheery-sounding book Nuclear War: A Scenario, has said only two countries would survive, New Zealand and Australia.