Iran and Israel Have Gotten Closer to the Abyss

 By David Starr

 

The threat of a regional war by Iran’s and Israel’s tit-for-tat military strikes is so far not happening. But tensions are still high. 

 

In the face of the bloody Gaza war, Israel took it upon itself to hit Iran’s consulate in Syria with military strikes; as if Israel hasn’t done enough already. Israel’s military strike caused the death of seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two of the victims being generals.

 

Israel has been getting away with many violations over the years, particularly when it comes the status of Palestinians. Especially with the recent Gaza war, Israel, because of its fascist government (and its supporters) have violated international law repeatedly. But this latest attack on the Iranian consulate is yet another violation, this time based on Section 51 of the United Nations Charter. 

 

The Charter says, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.” Thus, Iran had the right to respond to Israel’s attack since it was technically on Iranian territory. Thus, the right to self-defense. 

 

Because the USA fervently supports Israel, despite the Biden administration “warning” it, the latter has been held unaccountable for its aggression, both figuratively and literally. 

 

Iran responded to Israel’s attack with a barrage of drones and missiles, but most were intercepted by Israel’s air defenses. For Iran, it was merely a symbolic attack in the effort to not widen hostilities in the region.

 

But Israel retaliated, striking the central province of Isfahan and near Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz. Iran, however, decided not to respond to avoid widening the conflict in the region again. It has appeared that Iran’s government has exercised sanity in not wanting to cause a disaster, while Israel’s government has been aggressively insane, with its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu probably trying to drag the USA directly into the conflict. But the Biden administration made it known that it will not interfere…so far.

 

Iran did respond by saying it knocked out quadcopters (small drones). And Israel did not hit the nuclear facility at Natanz. This was verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Writing in Al Jazeera, Maziar Motamedi states that “the Iranian government told the IAEA that all nuclear facilities subject to inspection would be closed for one day for ‘security considerations,’ IAEA head Rafael Grossi told reporters…”

 

Motamedi asks if a nuclear strike could be possible on Iranian and Israel facilities. He writes, “For one, there are tactical military considerations. Israel would most have to carry out an attack alone as the US, which helped repel Iran’s attack, has cautioned it will not actively participate in an attack on Iran and has demonstrated that…” Tehran made it clear to Washington that it should not interfere with the ongoing conflict, especially if nuclear weapons are used. But the odds of nuclear strikes happening is remote at this time. 

 

Iran has not yet developed a nuclear weapon, but it does have nuclear power for civilian uses. Israel does not want Iran to produce nuclear weapons, although Israel itself has them. But if Israel keeps up with its aggression in Gaza and potentially elsewhere in the region, Iran, for the sake of trying to gain parity, just may produce nuclear weapons. 

 

In a hypothetical situation, if Israel were to attack Iran again, it would have to go it alone. That means the difficulty of pushing through Iran’s air defenses. It also means that Israel may not be able to reach its targets, that is, “facilities that are underground or buried deep in the mountains.” Motamedi writes, “An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be a de facto declaration of war as it would constitute a full-fledged military assault on one of the highest-valued Iranian state facilities.” This kind of strike, as with others, would show Israel is guilty again of violating international law.

 

So, this would not be an appropriate time to strike Iran if Israel has plans to do so. There is international condemnation of Israel for its war crimes in Gaza. Any move by Israel’s fascist government to widen the conflict would put Israel in a position where more countries could oppose it.

 

Regarding Israel’s strike, the PBS News Hour reported that, “No Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel had attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.” But, “Air defense batteries fired in several provinces over reports of drones being in the air, state television reported.” An Iranian reporter shot a video in Isfahan showing footage of “two different anti-aircraft positions, and details of the video corresponded with known features of the site of Iran’s Uranium Conversion Facility at Isfahan.”

 

With all the madness going on in the Middle East, Robert Koehler, writing for CounterPunch, coined a phrase, which is “accepted insanity.” This means that, “We have the technological and psychological capacity to kill thousands or even millions of people but the whole human race, but let’s talk about it in terms of strategy, tactics and public relations! Let’s talk about it as though we’re covering a bunch of 10-year-old boys throwing stones. Which one’s going to win?”

 

The bottom-line goal for accepted insanity is to win…and at any cost. Koehler writes that war becomes “an abstraction, virtually always involving defined good guys and bad guys, and describing murder (including mass murder) as retaliation, self-defense, ‘show of force,’ etc., etc.” The jargon put out by government and media talking heads is B/W, with hardly any shades of gray. 

 

There’s always this “good vs evil” scenario. Hamas is always the “bad guy” while Israel is the “good guy.” The right-wing Israeli establishment, especially, has accused Hamas of every atrocity to the point of nausea, with most of the accusations being debunked. Israel has been a serial liar when describing the war, while ignoring its own war crimes. Israel has thus lost all credibility, and is opposed by most of the world.

 

Using, e.g., the phrase “self-defense” by Israel, and other pretty words thought up by the West and the Israeli government, is also not credible. Israel has gone way beyond self-defense. Destroying the Iranian consulate with air strikes is not self-defense. Israel, probably at Netanyahu’s urging, has used provocations (just like the USA does) in fueling the war in Gaza to spread out the conflict to Iran. 

 

The tension between Israel and Iran has been evident for decades. But the recent military strikes carried out by both countries against each other is possibly a prologue to all-out war between the two. But, so far, this is not happening. Iran doesn’t want war, but will defend itself if it has to. Israel, meanwhile, in its utter madness, would provoke a war if it came down to it.