The US war in Iran and its consequences |
Donald Trump's war in Iran has brought conflict close to Pakistan's border. After all, Iran is one of its four neighbours. Pakistan has also to be mindful of the fact that it has, after Iran, the world's second largest Shiite population which is very troubled by the American-Israeli attacks on Iran. They were involved in a demonstration outside the large American consulate in Karachi and were fired upon resulting in the deaths of 10 people. Sixteen more died in violent demonstrations in other parts of the country.
Donald Trump has made no serious effort to explain why he chose to launch a large military operation in Iran. A push by Israel may have been one reason but Israel has the military strength to take on Iran without US involvement. The Jewish state is very nervous that a nuclear-armed Iran would destroy Israel. Under no circumstances is it prepared to have Iran equip itself with nuclear arms.
That notwithstanding, American hostility towards Iran goes back to the time when Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Iranian monarch, was deposed and sent into exile. "Death to America" became a popular slogan under the rule of Shiite clerics. One of the early hostile acts by the religious government in Iran was to raid the large American embassy in Tehran and take 444 American prisoners who were released only when Ronald Reagan became the US president.
There was no immediate reason for the attack other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's belief that whoever succeeds Trump may not be as responsive to his fears about Iran developing a nuclear bomb and attacking his country. As was typical of........