Now the Mideast is once again reportedly staring at the prospect of a widened conflict after the Iranian attack on Israel.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a think tank that promotes diplomacy says that Biden is doubling down on a formula that so far has been disastrous.
He said Biden should have rebuked Israel for attacking the Iranian embassy on April 1, violating international law and endangering US troops in the region. Instead, the Biden administration rewards the Israeli government by promising to support it.
The US unlike some of its allies has not condemned the Israeli strike on the Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria, which killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals. The White House, however, was quick to distance itself from the strike, stressing that the US was not involved in it.
US diplomats have reportedly been speaking with their counterparts worldwide to urge restraint from Iran. While calling for de-escalation, US officials have also reaffirmed their country’s ironclad support for Israel, raising fears of a confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
This completely deprives Israel of any incentives to de-escalate; Parsi said adding that the backing of Israel by Biden mirrors his bear hug approach to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the outset of the war on Gaza, which gave a green light to the mass killings and rights violations in the Palestinian territory.
Trita Parsi stressed that the best remedy to the simmering tensions across the Middle East is ending the war in Gaza. In the broader picture, of course, there has been an obvious de-escalatory path available to Biden. He could have pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza.
A ceasefire would have stopped the attacks by Iraqi militias on the US, would have stopped the Houthi attacks, would have stopped the escalation between Iran and Israel and Israel and Hezbollah.
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank, called the US approach to the crisis hypocritical and contradictory. They have been calling on all the other parties in the region to show control, constantly telling the Iranians not to lose control. In contrast, they encouraged Israelis to act with total impunity.
He said that the Iranian pledge to retaliate is partly driven by the perception that the US and Israel believe they can cause harm without triggering a strong reaction from Tehran, which does not want a regional war. Now Iran wants to draw a firm line, Toossi said. The US policy has gotten us into this situation, he added.
Vali Nasr, a professor of international affairs at John Hopkins University says the pressure is now on Israel and the US rather than Iran. There are a lot of threatening remarks directed at Iran in the hope that the Iranians do not act. However, the die was first cast by Israel.
Biden does not want the US in a war with Iran, particularly as he seeks reelection in November. However, Washington’s default policy has long been to support Israel, he added.
Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a Washington, DC-based group that favors US diplomacy with Iran, warned that if the US joins Israel in reprisal strikes, the results could be catastrophic. It’s reckless and would certainly plunge the entire region into a disastrous and bloody conflict,” he said.
Costello said the US posture so far has been heavy on deterrence and light on de-confliction. They are saying Israel is going to have our backing, and Iran should just accept the strike on a diplomatic compound, which I think would be hard for any nation to accept.
The US must listen to experts
17
0
14.04.2024
Now the Mideast is once again reportedly staring at the prospect of a widened conflict after the Iranian attack on Israel.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a think tank that promotes diplomacy says that Biden is doubling down on a formula that so far has been disastrous.
He said Biden should have rebuked Israel for attacking the Iranian embassy on April 1, violating international law and endangering US troops in the region. Instead, the Biden administration rewards the Israeli government by promising to support it.
The US unlike some of its allies has not condemned the Israeli strike on the Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria, which killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals. The White House, however, was quick to distance itself from the strike, stressing that the US was not involved in it.
US diplomats have reportedly been........
© The Patriot
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Nikkei Editorial
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
