The U.S. and the War in the Middle East (The Case of the Great Satan in Iran) During the Precessing of the 1979 Islamic Revolution
U.S. officials say that they have sent messages to allies with closer ties to Tehran to urge Iran to exercise restraint. The U.S has relayed the same message to Iranian officials.
ISTANBUL — Israel is on high alert for a possible attack from Iran, following an airstrike that hit the Iranian consulate in Syria two weeks ago and killed several senior Iranian military officers. Iran blames Israel for the attack, and vows to retaliate.
Iran supports Hamas, the group that played a key role in starting the current war in Gaza by attacking southern Israel in October.
While Iran was ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty for more than a half-century, Iranian-Israeli bilateral relations were far from hostile. Iran was one of the first countries in the Muslim world to officially recognize Israel.
Iran continues to insist that its program is 100% peaceful, although certain incidents, such as an unexplained discovery of uranium particles at sites Iran never disclosed to the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, trouble critics who doubt Iran’s motives.
Iran’s nuclear program has been a main focus of Israeli attacks. Tehran believes Israel and the U.S. introduced the Stuxnet computer virus in the early 2000s to target the centrifuges enriching uranium for Iran’s nuclear program
In the 1980s, limited cooperation between Israel and Iran continued. Iran built up and funded proxy militias and other groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, causing a hostile rivalry between the two countries. Over the years, there was a shadow war between Israel and Iran.
The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran caused relations between the two nations to plummet. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted, and the new supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, pursued a policy of standing up to “arrogant” world powers. The United States and Israel were known as the Great Satan and the Little Satan in Iran.
The Israeli Attack on Oct. 7: Israel is a Terrorist State, not a “Viotory” of the Israeli “Nakba”
Palestinians view that recognition as a tacit international acceptance of what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were dispossessed and their homes were destroyed during the creation of Israel.
Iran, however, wasted no time in hailing the Hamas attack as a “victory.” Hours after news of the attack broke on Oct. 7, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told Iran’s ISNA news agency that “What took place today is in line with the continuation of victories of the anti-Zionist resistance in different fields, including Syria, Lebanon and occupied lands.”
Israel compiled a video showing Hamas gunmen killing civilians, including babies, and burning corpses. Some videos of the attack were verified by Human Rights Watch, and they called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the attacks as war crimes.
Many countries have issued warnings to their citizens not to visit the region because of the heightening tensions and fears that an Iranian attack may be imminent.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in six months since Oct. 7, when Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza.
The strike and the retaliation are something that officials around the world had been concerned about since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.
In anticipation of a possible attack, President Biden had cut short a trip to Delaware in order to return to the White House Saturday. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel. Biden said that Iran would not succeed.
Israel’s defence minister said Iran is a terrorist state hours before the launch. “We are determined to defend our citizens against this terrorism, and we know how to respond to it.”
By Saturday, as anticipation had grown over a possible retaliation, Israeli officials warned residents living in communities near Gaza and the Lebanon border to limit the size of gatherings and to work indoors or within reach of a shelter. Israel schools were closed for a day on Monday.
Israel is prepared for any attack, defensive or offensive, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says it had launched missiles against targets in Israel
The launch was confirmed by the White House, where a spokesperson said President Biden would monitor the attack from the Situation Room alongside top defense and diplomatic officials.
“We have determined a clear principle: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We will defend ourselves against any threat and will do so level-headedly and with determination,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu addressed Israelis on Saturday night, telling them that the country was ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensive.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps broadcasted a statement on state television that said it had launched missiles against targets in Israel.
The drones would take hours to arrive in Israeli airspace, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. If sirens go off, he warned Israelis to stay in safe rooms for 10 minutes.
