image source, AFP
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The enmity between Iran and Israel is well known.
Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and then the Israeli army’s bombing of Gaza in retaliation has further strained their relations.
It is being said that Iran has carried out this attack on Israel. Although Iran has denied this. The way happiness was celebrated in Iran after the Hamas attack had increased Israel’s concern manifold.
For the last four decades, Iran’s rulers have been vowing to destroy Israel.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was rarely seen without the red-and-white checkered Palestinian caftan.
It is said that Iranian commanders have been providing training and weapons to Israel’s enemies like Hezbollah and Hamas for years.
But Hamas’s recent attack on Israel has put it in a dilemma.
The ‘New York Times’ has written that Iran is unable to understand how to respond to Israeli actions in Palestine.
The newspaper writes that nowadays Iran is warning Israel almost every day but is avoiding taking the risk of direct action against it.
Apart from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other organizations also seem to be confused about the strategy against Israeli action.
According to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli operations in Gaza, but Iran and its allies are hesitant to risk a direct war with Israel.
Jugalbandhi between America and Israel
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Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Khamenei has appealed to Muslim countries to stop the supply of oil and food items to Israel.
He has condemned American support to Israel and said that without it Israel would be paralyzed within a few days.
According to the news of ‘Tehran Times’, Khamenei said that ‘Death to America’ is not just a slogan but it is the result of its endless conspiracies and enmity against the Iranian people that have been going on for the last seven decades.
Addressing thousands of students before National Student Day, Khamenei said that without America’s open support, the Jewish regime would be defeated within a few days.
When the leaders of Western countries declared Hamas a terrorist organization, Khamenei said that the attack on Gaza has exposed the human rights of Western countries. He asked whether the French who fought against Nazi Germany in the Second World War were terrorists.
Khamenei warned the Islamic countries that if the Arab countries do not stand up against Israel, then after eliminating Hamas, he will start crushing them too.
According to news agency Reuters, on Wednesday Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdullahyan also said that Israel will have to face very bad consequences if the bombing continues in the Gaza Strip.
But he did not tell what Iran would do against it.
Meanwhile, Iran’s attitude has become more strict after the US House of Representatives approved $14.3 billion in aid for Israel.
From this it has become clear that it does not want to allow Iran and its allies to dominate at any cost.
image source, WAEL HAMZEH/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
On the question of Iran not making any appeal for direct action against Israel despite the announcement of American aid to Israel, analysts say that there is no doubt that Iran has trained and provided funds to Hamas extremists. .
The arsenal of drones and rockets that Hamas has created has Iran’s cooperation.
But due to the blockade of Gaza and Yemen, it has become difficult for Iran to deliver heavy weapons there.
The recent statements of Khamenei and Iran’s Foreign Minister have made it clear that Iran, which has vowed to destroy Israel for four decades, is not going to enter into a direct war.
In these statements, there has been an appeal to boycott Western countries and show solidarity with Arab countries, but there is no indication of waging a direct war against Israel.
Iran has said that it does not want the war between Israel and Hamas to spread to the entire Arab world. But the situation is extremely explosive and at any time it can engulf the entire area.
If this happens then the situation will not be under the control of either Israel-America or the Arab countries.
The Iranian Foreign Minister says that extremist organizations like Iran-backed Hezbollah and Houthi present in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq can open an all-out front against Israel and then it will be very difficult for Israel to handle it.
But despite warning after warning, Iran has not given any indication of entering into a direct war against Israel.
Iran-backed Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi militia have also carried out limited attacks on Israel and that too only in the border areas.
Allies can also leave
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Anti-Israel protest in Bahrain
Officials with knowledge of the policies of the Iranian government told the ‘New York Times’ that their country will not enter into a direct war against Israel. Its policy is to maintain pressure on the Israeli army.
Khamenei may have reminded the slogan of ‘death to America’ in his last speech. But it would hardly want America to enter the battlefield here.
Anyway, America has publicly warned Iran and its allied extremist organizations that it does not want war with it but they should not take any such step which could start a war in the whole world.
On the other hand, Iran is afraid of one more thing. Some of its allied countries have been ignoring its advice on many occasions.
If Iran enters into a direct war, it is possible that they may not support it. In such a situation his move will backfire.
Not only Iran but other Arab countries also do not want to take a direct confrontation with Israel at this time.
Bahrain’s relations with Iran have not been particularly good. But on Thursday it has also confirmed to call its ambassador from Israel.
After the Abraham Accords, relations were established between Israel and Bahrain. Israel then appointed Bahrain as its ambassador.
Earlier, Jordan had also announced to recall its ambassador from Israel.
Latin American countries Bolivia and Chile have also recalled their ambassadors from Israel. The United Arab Emirates had said that despite the war between Hamas and Israel, it would not break its business relations with Israel.
The Jerusalem Post quoted a UAE official as saying that the Abraham Accords will not end despite Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.
The Abraham Agreement was signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on 13 August 2020. On September 11 of the same year, these two countries also signed the agreement.
Under this agreement, UAE, Bahrain and Israel had agreed to open embassies and appoint ambassadors to each other.
All the countries that signed the Abraham Accords resolved to increase mutual cooperation with each other in the fields of trade, technology, healthcare and tourism.
‘Neither for Gaza nor for Lebanon, I will die for Iran’
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Demonstration in support of Palestine in Iran
Iran’s domestic politics is also preventing it from going to war with Israel. Iran has been supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah, called the axis of resistance, the Palestinian organization Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Iraq’s Shia extremists and Yemen’s Houthi organization.
But for some time now, dissatisfaction against this policy of the country has increased among the Iranian people.
Middle-East media outlet Amwaz Media has written that when reformist leader Al-Hussein Mousavi contested the elections, his supporters were raising slogans – ‘Neither for Gaza nor for Lebanon, I will die for Iran.’
Mousavi is neither anti-Palestinian nor pro-Israel. He said that Iran should first focus on solving its problems.
Due to the declining economy and political situation in Iran, there has been a lot of polarization regarding the relations between Iran and Palestine.
Amwaz Media has written that a section of Iranian citizens had distributed sweets after the Hamas attack. But there are a large number of people who are critical of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
He is a supporter of the existence of Palestine but does not consider Hamas’ attack on Israel right.
Amwaz Media writes that Iran’s society is once again torn apart over the Israel-Palestine war.
There is a lot of debate going on on social media in support of Israel and Palestine. From this it seems that the distance between Iranian power and Iranian society is increasing.
Ayatollah Khamenei had announced in 2015 that Israel would cease to exist in the next 25 years.
But the number of people in Iran is increasing who do not agree with the anti-Israel and anti-American attitude of the regime.
Why does America always support Israel?
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The question is why America is standing with Israel despite the increased risk of war in the entire Arab world due to the Israeli attack on Gaza.
After all, why does its support always seem to be in favor of Israel?
Stanley Johny, international affairs editor in the English newspaper The Hindu, has written, “Actually, during the Cold War, America started supporting Israel to stop the expansion of the Soviet Union in the Arab world. After this, as America started expanding its interests in West Asia, Israel continued to play an important role in maintaining stability there.
“America also kept Saudi Arabia and Egypt at bay here. Like South Korea and Germany, America expanded its strategic interests through this alliance. America’s domestic public opinion has been more or less in favor of Israel.
“Domestic politics and the strength of the Israel lobby in America also kept America always supportive of Israel. This lobby has played an important role in guiding America’s Israel policy.
Israel has also been receiving support in the US Parliament. America’s Jewish and Evangelical Christian lobbies are quite active politically here and both are pro-Israel.
This post originally appeared on www.bbc.com