IN a significant escalation, Israel confirmed on Friday that it had launched an attack targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and military sites in and around the country’s capital, Tehran.
In a pre-recorded video message posted early Friday morning, Jewish Prime Minister Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at hurting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile factories, vowing the “operation will take as long as is needed to complete the task of fending off the threat of annihilation against us”.
The incident unfolded amid rising tensions linked to ongoing US diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading Iran to cease the enrichment of materials that could be used to build a nuclear weapon.
In response to potential Iranian retaliation, Israel declared a state of emergency, anticipating missile and drone attacks from Tehran.
According to two American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity, Israel had initiated strikes against Iran but they hastened to clarify that the United States had neither participated in nor supported the Israeli operation.
They refrained from providing specific operational details for understandable reasons.
The attack on Iran is yet another clear evidence that the Jewish State has scant respect for international law, global opinion and regional peace and security.
In fact, the impotency demonstrated by the civilized world in respect of continued genocide in Gaza has emboldened bloodthirsty Prime Minister Netanyahu to settle scores with Iran despite total commitment shown by Tehran to sort out issues involved through peaceful means.
The Iranian preference for dialogue was highlighted by the fact that the US and Iranian officials were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran’s escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, as confirmed by officials of the two countries and their Omani mediators.
It is strange that Tel Aviv opted to carry out the attack despite a public statement of the US President Donald Trump who apprehended the possibility of an Israeli attack against Iran but wanted peaceful resolution of the conflict saying his country was close to an accord with Tehran.
Trump said he believed a “pretty good” deal on Iran’s nuclear programme was “fairly close”, but said that an Israeli attack on its arch foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.
Though the relevant US officials are trying to distance their country from the Israeli aggression but the Jewish media claims Israel fully coordinated with the United States on Iran but reports of rift were not denied as part of the media ruse to confuse Iran.
Tacit approval of the Israeli plan by the United States cannot be ruled out given evacuation of the US diplomatic staff from the region as Iran had warned that in case of an attack it will target US interests in the region.
Tehran also claims it received intelligence reports from a friendly country about an imminent Israeli attack but reports of the initial damage and losses show Iran was not fully prepared for such strikes.
Given attacks on its nuclear facilities and reports of killing of senior military officials in Israeli aggression, Iran is bound to retaliate.
Its relevant officials have declared in unequivocal terms that Iran will give a harsh and decisive response to the unprovoked war imposed on the country by Israel.
They said details of the response were discussed at the highest level.
Fearing retaliation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran not to respond to Israeli strikes by hitting US bases, saying Washington was not involved.
As for Israel, it has confirmed its plans to continue with attacks against Iran for an indefinite period and the Iranian response and strategy will determine the nature and duration of the conflict.
Regrettably, the region has been thrown into a dangerous situation due to the might is right policy of Israel with dangerous consequences for the region and beyond.
The world is expressing concerns and sympathizing with Iran but no one can predict the final outcome as the United Nations has been rendered ineffective and the most powerful country of the globe is providing military, economic and diplomatic shield to the Jewish State as repeatedly confirmed in the case of Gaza.
