Pakistan next? |
Iran has land borders with seven countries ~ Iraq (1,600 km approx.), Turkmenistan (1,150 km approx.), Afghanistan (920 km approx.), Pakistan (910 km approx.), Azerbaijan (690 km approx.), Turkey (530 km approx.) and Armenia (45 km approx.). Across waters, its maritime neighbours include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. This geographical understanding is necessary as the US-Israel led War on Iran has led cornered Iranians to strike selected targets across neighbouring countries as part of an escalation to a regional war, deliberately spread by Iran.
Countries chosen to be counterattacked by Iran are those that are considered US allies or have strategic US assets. Naturally, countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar have been subjected to Iranian missile or drone attacks. The recent ‘hit’ of the major gas facility at Qatar, is one such carefully chosen target. Even co-sectarian Azerbaijan has reportedly been targeted by the Iranians (though disputedly so) as it is a rare Israeli ally in the region. Counterintuitively, while Israel had provided up to 70 per cent of all militaristic hardware to Shiite-Azerbaijan, the high temple of Shiite sensibilities i.e., Iran, had supported Azerbaijan’s predominantly Christian rival, Armenia, in the recent Azerbaijan-Armenia War.
Most Arab Sheikhdoms are automatic targets of Iran as they have been staunch US allies; they have hosted US military bases, and some have even pursued the Abrahamic Accords with Israel. Qatar and Oman were notable oddities, in that Iran refused to attack them initially. The reason was simple, Tehran initially viewed Qatar and Oman as neutral middlemen or mediators, who offered their services for communicating with the US-Israel duo, earlier. Historically also, Qatar and Oman had maintained positive relations with Iran (unlike other Arab Sheikhdoms), despite being predominantly Sunni-dominated.
Therefore, Iran wanted to avoid opening too many fronts and inadvertently uniting the theatre. But that stand changed after Iran’s South Pars gas........