How Iran chooses to respond to the unusually public Israeli airstrikes could determine whether the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already devastating and destabilizing level of violence.
A carefully worded statement from Iran’s military Saturday night appeared to offer some wiggle room for the Islamic Republic to back away from further escalation. It suggested that a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon was more important than any retaliation against Israel.
I would never have thought that the Iranian gov’t would be the good guys in this scenario.
Regional experts suggested that Israel’s relatively limited target list was intentionally calibrated to make it easier for Iran to back away from escalation.
As Yoel Guzansky, who formerly worked for Israel’s National Security Council and is now a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, put it: Israel’s decision to focus on purely military targets allows Iran “to save face.”
No, Israel is not. Israel is has been trying to expand this conflict further, and if you’ve been following the events in the past year, it should be painfully obvious at this point.
They’re not. The statement is nothing more than a face-saving move to avoid looking weak to other Middle East countries. They don’t want to retaliate because they know it will end with the destruction of their nuclear dreams, so they’re using the ceasefire as an excuse.
I would never have thought that the Iranian gov’t would be the good guys in this scenario.
Israel giving them the out.
No, Israel is not. Israel is has been trying to expand this conflict further, and if you’ve been following the events in the past year, it should be painfully obvious at this point.
K, the article disagrees.
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Apnews is a Zionist outlet?
This is objective misinformation.
Do you remember that time Israel detonated pagers in Lebanon? I know it was about a month and a half ago…
Or that Israel has killed over 43,000 people in Gaza the past year? Over half of which are women and children.
K, with all that, the article still disagrees.
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They’re not. The statement is nothing more than a face-saving move to avoid looking weak to other Middle East countries. They don’t want to retaliate because they know it will end with the destruction of their nuclear dreams, so they’re using the ceasefire as an excuse.