Between Iran and a Hard Place
For years, Israel has
attacked Iran. Not only has Israel assassinated Iranian professors and scientists, it has also launched several cyberattacks against Iran.
On April 1, 2024, Israel upped the ante by bombing Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing seven people. This was a grave violation of international law, as consulate buildings and embassies must never be targeted. These are considered the sovereign territory of the residing country, so Israel’s attack in Damascus was akin to an attack on Tehran. The attack was also flat-out murder.
After such a terrible and unprecedented breach of international law and political norms, you can imagine how outraged Western leaders like Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, and David Cameron were. You can imagine the press releases and speeches condemning Israel’s violation. You can imagine the calls for sanctions against Israel. Except…none of that happened.
Iran showed remarkable restraint after previous Israeli attacks. Even this time they waited to see how the international community would respond. Russia
drafted a statement to condemn Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate at the United Nations Security Council, but -- surprise, surprise -- the US, UK, and France shot it down (no pun intended).
What would the US, UK, or France do if another country bombed one of their consulates? Should we allow this type of behavior to be normalized? The double standards are mind-boggling.
Iran responded by launching around 300 missiles and drones against military targets in Israel on the night of April 13, 2024. They didn’t target hospitals, schools, or places of worship like Israel does. What’s more, Iran informed its neighbors and the US in advance of its retaliation, which Israel’s collaborators like Saudi Arabia and the UAE promptly used to
provide intelligence to Israel.
Once the missiles and drones were launched -- which took hours to reach Israel -- the US, UK, France, and Jordan all helped
intercept them on Israel’s behalf. Apparently Jordan was okay with flaming shrapnel falling on its own citizens’ heads in order to protect Israel. Israel boasted that 99% of the missiles and drones were intercepted. This should be no surprise given Iran’s advance notice.
Iran’s retaliation could be seen as a failure, but upon initial examination it appears they did everything within their legal and moral rights under
Article 51 of the United Nations charter. They even announced at the UN that their retaliation was over. Has Israel ever done this sort of due diligence with its own attacks against Palestinians or neighboring countries? And who knows, Iran may have gathered priceless intel on Israel’s defense capabilities, not to mention that Israel and its defenders spent a lot more on interception than Iran spent on those missiles and drones.
After Iran’s legally acceptable retaliation, mass hypocrisy ensued. World leaders rushed to condemn Iran, and the US promised further sanctions. Israel vowed retaliation, claiming this was an act of war, not realizing the absurdity of retaliating against a retaliation. Maybe don’t bomb other nations’ consulates? The mainstream media played dumb and acted like Iran’s attack was totally unprovoked and perhaps even anti-Semitic. Was it collective amnesia? Were people blind or brainwashed? Are we in the Twilight Zone? It was unbelievable how many people couldn’t put two and two together.
In the first place, why would Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu order or approve a direct strike on Iran’s consulate? Commentators have thrown out various theories, from Israel wanting to divert attention from its war crimes in Gaza to prolonging the war so Netanyahu can stay in power, as he would likely lose if an early election took place. He would also be forced to
face the music in regards to the corruption case against him from 2019 in which he was charged with fraud and bribery.
But another theory is that Israel wants to pull the US into a regional war with the primary aim of taking out Iran. There’s substance to this theory.
For those who only began following the Palestinian-Israeli drama after October 7, 2023, they may not realize how deceptive and sleazy Benjamin Netanyahu is. In 2002, he
testified in the US Congress and made some interesting statements, such as: “No question whatsoever that Saddam [Hussein] is seeking, and is working, and is advancing towards the development of nuclear weapons…”
He also said: “...[I]f you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region…”
It’s been over 20 years since the US invasion of Iraq. How did those positive reverberations turn out? And where exactly are those sneaky nuclear weapons?
Netanyahu fooled the US into invading Iraq in 2003 and
slaughtering more than a quarter-million Iraqi civilians, all on the pretext of “weapons of mass destruction” (to be read in George W. Bush’s voice). This was a preemptive, unprovoked attack based on a lie, not based on evidence. Netanyahu got what he wanted, which was regime change in Iraq. And he didn’t have to spend a dime. To his credit, he’s a skilled politician. He knows what to say and how to say it.
And guess what. He also wants regime change in Iran. He wants to reformulate the Middle East to make every country “friendly” (or subservient) to Israel. During this same hearing in 2002, Netanyahu also
encouraged regime change in Iran. When Netanyahu was invited back to address the US Congress in 2015, he tried the same tactic as with Iraq by claiming that Iran was a nuclear threat. So says the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu stated during his 2015 address: “Iran could have the means to deliver that [imaginary] nuclear arsenal to the far reach [sic], corners of the earth including to every part of the United States.”
Aww. Would you look at that? He cares so much about the US and our safety.
Netanyahu went on to say: “The Middle East would soon be criss-crossed by nuclear tripwires. A region where small skirmishes can trigger big wars, would turn into a nuclear tinderbox…We’ll face a much more dangerous Iran, a Middle East littered with nuclear bombs, and a countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare.”
Yeah, not alarmist at all. What shall we do? Maybe a preemptive strike against Iran? If the US falls victim to Netanyahu’s ploy once again, we, the US taxpayers, will pay for it with our blood and treasure. But who will ultimately benefit?