“We will fight against Iran for as many days as it wants.”
-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
The Israel-Iran Conundrum: A Brief Look
With missiles striking across Tabriz, Kermanshah, Tehran, Arak, Natanz, Isfahan and other areas of national importance, along with precision-based military strikes being aimed at the residential complexes of top nuclear scientists of Iran, precisively killing and eliminating the top officers of the Iranian National Revolutionary Guards, apart from openly challenging Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program- Israel has upped the ante in the Middle Eastern region of the world, clearly threatening the already fragile peace as a part of its now known Op- Operation Rising Lion (Am KeLavi- Hebrew).
What came as a surprise to most of the world a day before, was a meticulously planned operation, being heralded by Netanyahu himself, as early as last November after the surprise elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, the top military commander and voice of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, to effectively counter Israel by all means possible, whatsoever. The present precision military strikes are probably the most ambitious military operation in recent years, being charged by Israel, against the nation that is hell-bent on eliminating the very essence and presence of Israel, from this earth itself. The strikes have clearly targeted the nuclear operational bases of Iran, Natanz in the heart of Iran, also not leaving behind its capital city of Tehran, striking thereby at least a 1000 km inside the Iranian territory. However, reports have also confirmed the launch of Operation True Promise III, whereby Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have targeted mega city centers of Israel, firing over a 100 ballistic missiles along with dozens of drone propulsions as a retaliatory action against Israel.
It must be understood that Israel is a relatively young nation with a population which is less than half of what Iran hosts, and an army that is technologically advanced, high on stealth operations, supported ably by Mossad as its intelligence wing, and an economic growth trajectory that surpasses that of Iran. Israel is surrounded by nations that undoubtedly want it to vanish -much as Prime Minister Netanyahu warned in his address after the strikes- but not being able to do so due to their own vested interests. Even Iran states that elimination of Israel is its topmost priority, much to the chagrin of the Israeli supremo. Israel, on its part is surrounded by forces, propelled by Iran- Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza arena, and Harakat Hezbollah al Najuba in Iraq (all being trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards)- which are being used by Iran in its own way to advance its interests. Additionally, it also supports Houthis in Yemen, although not posing much of a grave danger to Israel, as the other three.
Nuclear Facilities Hit: A Warning Sign to Iran
Op Rising Lion, is not only based on what has happened in the past two-three days, but has a much wider past foundation, with Mossad and the Israeli army being involved in the domestic territorial warfare, and deploying the methods of sabotage, covert operational warfare and other international geopolitical tactics. Aerial precision, of course, as discussed has already stunned the world. Israel declaring a national emergency in its own nation-state, and ordering citizens to seek shelter in bunkers, has raised righteous fears of dangerous escalation in the territory.
In the past weeks, America (even though has distanced itself from the present tensions) had warned Iran of agreeing to Nuclear deal within 60 days, and the operations were launched on the 61st day; Prime Minister Netanyahu had visited the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, showed himself to be utterly engaged in the wedding celebration of his son, and employed various other tactics that did not even give out a hint as to what it held in store for Iran. This naturally caught everyone involved off guard, and thus proved to be extremely difficult to retaliate at the time of attack. Netanyahu also hid a note in the Western Wall before leaving, now being taken as a hint of the Operation. The note contained a biblical verse- “A people that rises up as a lioness, and as a lion that lifts himself up.” It was only after this symbolic gesture that Netanyahu emphatically declared the initial success of the operation, in a national address to Israel.
However, it must be noted that this particular strike by Israel was different from any of its previous strikes, because it was a perfect blend of all that constitutes military operations, intelligence operations, diplomatic operations, and bureaucratic operations- which are responsible for making an offensive attack utterly successful, in no time. According to reported news, Israel engaged in camouflaging weapon platforms hidden tactically inside civilian vehicles being parked across Iran, strategically; along with stealthily operating a Mossad drone base right near Tehran. This particular daring act by Israel aided it in launching explosive-laden kamikaze drones towards the missile sites of Esfejahabad, additionally dismantling the Iranian air-defense system. What was much more flabbergasting was the complete and total decapitation of Iran’s military leadership, right form the top to the number 2 of Ali Khamenei. These included IRGC commander Hossein Salami, Armed Forces Chief Mohammad Bagheri, and top nuclear scientists, including but not limited to- Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani.
Claiming and shown to have attacked the Natanz facility, which the main nuclear facility of the Iranian nation, housing the uranium enrichment process, and also the country’s maximum nuclear fuel, Israel clearly has raged Iran enough, to mark a deafening retaliation, in days to come. Geo- Political commentators also highlight the popularity issues of both the supreme leaders in their respective countries, as one of the reasons as to why these strikes are now been made out. Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had also declared early Thursday a resolution that labeled Iran as being non-compliant with its non-proliferation obligations. This is the first such resolution in more than two decades, highlighting that Iran had been conducting secret nuclear activities, without any kind of information being disclosed, regarding the same.
The strikes thereby are being labeled as pre-emptive and precautionary strikes in light of Iran being very close to building the nuclear weapons, which can jeopardise the whole status quo in the Middle eastern global region. Iran possessing a nuclear weapon has always been considered by Israel an existential threat, with even nations of the Muslim brotherhood considering the same threat as a danger to their own sovereignty. Already, Iran is singled out due to its Shia majority population, clearly demarcating its interests from the other Sunni-majority populist States. This present situation clearly shows that the strikes and the support in today’s world is not so much given out on the basis of shared religional perspectives or brotherhood claims, but by international geopolitical interests; thereby clearly silently stating that there are no permanent friends and enemies in international relations, and anything that is permanent is- national interest and nothing else. IAEA had declared that Israel has not hit Qom yet, another underground nuclear facility of Iran- which is much harder to hit, and any nuclear radiation leakage from Natanz is also not possible due to certain understandable reasons. After the metamorphical changes in the Middle East last year, and Israel going to war with Hamas, this, according to Netanyahu, is Israel’s last chance to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.
Parting Note
Dr. S. Jaishankar, the Indian external affairs minister, has talked to both his counterparts from Iran and Israel and appealed for a peaceful resolution and tactical equidistant ambivalence in light of conflicts, friction points, and dilemmatic situations. Even majority of the world leaders, have also done the same. However, Middle East has been brewing since the last year, when Hamas so brutally attacked the Israeli side. With the peaceful resolution of the conflict yet to see the light of the day and swapping of prisoners on both sides, going at a slow pace; this seemingly new escalatory tension point can push the Middle East further into a spiraling never-ending abyss of regional conflicts. What will follow the recent escalation is yet to be seen and known, however diplomatic backchannels should also be activated for a plausible solution in hand, to prevent further escalation. India, on her part has rightfully taken the first diplomatic step by opening talking-channels with both the nations, and urging her citizens to seek shelters in safe harbors, along with being in constant contact with the embassy channels. The world still watches, and the solution must be searched, in the righteous way possible.
