Israeli War Drumbeat against Iran

Once again Israel has embarked on a campaign to spread fear within the region. Last Friday, the New York Times reported that according to the US officials a major Israeli military maneuver over the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece in early June, in which more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets participated, seemed to be a practice for a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

 

Military analysts have argued that military strike against Iran would surely require US help or blessing. That is the reason why the Israelis have tried hard to force the American officials to approve such an operation. Some analysts have interpreted the recent exercise as a signal that if the US did not want to be involved in this adventure, Israel might be willing to act alone.

 

In an election year in the US, the President has no easy task to approve a military strike against another country when the US is already deeply involved in Iraq and Afghanistan with no end in sight for the troops pull out from these two countries.  However, taking into account the US President’s mindset, one will not be surprised if he would approve such a decision without considering its consequences for the US and the world.

 

In response to these provocations, Mohammad ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Friday that military strike against Iran would turn the region into a fireball. He also said that in that eventuality, he would quit his job. Reacting to the same report about military action against Iran, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister said that the US and Israel had not provided any evidence that the Iranian nuclear program was for military purposes. He also urged dialogue rather than confrontation.

 

Last week, when Solana, on behalf of 5+1 countries, delivered a new package to Iran, the Iranian officials told him that they would study the package and give their response to the proposal. Later, the Iranian Foreign Minister said on Thursday that Iran was ready to negotiate with 5+1 and was studying the package. Apparently, Solana told the Iranians that preliminary talks between the two sides could start immediately provided that Iran would not expand its current enrichment program.

 

The timing of the disclosure of the Israeli exercise is dubious. Is it related to a diplomatic momentum that was generated following Solana’s visit to Iran? Why it took more than two weeks for the Israelis and Americans to leak the news of the exercise? It seems that those who are interested in confrontation are doing their best to torpedo the current promising trend.

 

It is incumbent upon all peace-loving nations to stand up against this war mongering policies. Iran has said that any aggression against it will not be unanswered. It is in the interest of all in the region and beyond to support dialogue and negotiations as Solana is taking the lead to start the negotiations between the two sides.