When Israel attacked the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus on April 1, the Middle East and the entire world were left in a state of shock.
Tehran viewed this incident as a declaration of war, even though Tel Aviv has been hitting Iranians and their allies in Syria for more than ten years, since the start of the Syrian conflict.
Israel struck an official Iranian facility for the first time, murdering several Sepah-i-Pasdaran members, including two senior generals. Tehran was expected to respond to this provocation, and late on Saturday it did so in yet another “first,” unleashing a volley of drones and missiles straight into Israel.From this point on, nothing can be certain: either diplomacy and de-escalation will take hold and pull the area and the entire world back from the verge of disaster. Alternatively, there may be a disastrous explosion that causes further destruction, violence, and suffering for the world’s economy.
Israel’s allies in the West, especially the US and numerous European nations, have denounced Tehran’s “reckless” counterstrike with sanctimonious language and reaffirmed their “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s defense.The world community is facing grave danger at this time. Rather than lavishing Israel with favors, the West must stop it from pursuing further provocative actions. All bets are off and a full-scale war may break out if Tel Aviv does decide to use more force against Iran. De-escalation is the right direction to take. The main cause of the current Middle East conflict is the slaughter that Israel needs to stop immediately in Gaza.
Furthermore, it needs to stop its heinous actions against sovereign nations like Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. Should the West continue to speak tough, it will give Israel more confidence and may lead the US and Europe into a shooting war with Iran and its allies in the region.Benjamin Netanyahu may genuinely wish to fight Iran until the last American lives in order to divert attention from the carnage occurring in Gaza. The time is now for deft statesmanship to avert a catastrophic showdown.