The death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike has dramatically weakened a key Iranian deterrent against its archenemy, Israel.
Iran has long sought to have the proxies it supports in the region — including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and forces in Syria, Yemen and Iraq — serve as the front line in its long-running fight with Israel. But if its most important military asset, Hezbollah, has been decimated, it may have no choice but to respond, experts said this weekend.
An Iranian demonstrator holds up a poster of the leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group Hassan Nasrallah in a gathering to support Hezbollah in Tehran, Iran.Credit: AP
The decisions it makes will have a significant impact on the next stage of a growing conflict that threatens to engulf the region.
“Iran’s choices really range from ugly to unpalatable,” said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, a conflict prevention organisation.
Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East and North Africa program director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah significantly raises the risk of a dangerous conflagration in the Middle East........