Israel's Attacks on Iranian Soil Are a Blunder
© AP Photo / Vahid Salemi
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The fast-deteriorating situation in the Middle East, headlined by military precision strikes by Iran and Israel conducted inside each other's territories, has put the region on the cusp of a total war. Sputnik India examines how the situation could pan out over the next few days and weeks.
Israel's drone attacks, targeting Isfahan, the Iranian city housing the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities on Friday morning was a "blunder", two Indian geopolitical pundits have said.
The remarks of Indian Army veteran Lieutenant-Colonel (Retd) J.S. Sodhi and former Indian Navy officer Captain Alok Bansal come amid rising speculations of a spillover of the Israeli-Iranian conflict in the entire MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region.
"Israel has committed a blunder by attacking Iran on its soil and this is what Iran wanted Israel to do. Now, it is a matter of time before the Israel-Hamas War will turn into a regional conflict in the Middle East," Sodhi told Sputnik India.
He stressed that the Arab countries have become economically and militarily strong in the last two decades. While Israel could defeat many Arab countries simultaneously in many wars in the 20th century, it is impossible to accomplish such superiority now.
Importance of Isfahan in International Relations
Israel's choice to target Isfahan is significant in the context of Israeli-Iranian relations.
Isfahan is home to a wide range of Iranian military assets, including an airbase that houses a fleet of fighter planes acquired both before and after it officially became an Islamic state following the revolution in 1979.
Additionally, the city accommodates Iran's Uranium enrichment facilities and holds its nuclear reactors.
However, the attack was repelled with Hossein Dalirian, the spokesperson of Iran's space agency, confirming that several drones were downed by the Islamic sovereign state's air defenses.
"Several drones have been successfully shot down by the country's air defense, there are no reports of a missile attack for now," Dalirian said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, Israel, Sunday, July 30, 2023.
© Abir Sultan
Netanyahu Prolonging the Conflict to Cling on to Power
The role of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in ordering Friday's strikes inside Iran is well understood and both Sodhi and Bansal blamed him for pushing the region on the horizon of a full-fledged conflagration.
"Netanyahu's position is very, very tenuous. He has lost popularity in his own country and he realizes that the day the conflict around Israel ends, he would be out of power. So, he has a vested interest in prolonging the conflict and as a result, he has been taking all possible steps that ensure that the conflict does not end," Bansal told Sputnik India.
"Benjamin Netanyahu is totally to be blamed for the current crisis unfolding in the Middle East," Sodhi added.
Also, both strategic affairs analysts highlighted that Netanyahu's approval ratings in Israel are currently running in the negative.
According to a Times of Israel opinion poll conducted in the second week of April, 71% of the Israeli citizens wanted Netanyahu to resign from office.
Meanwhile, Russia has called for introducing sanctions against Israel in the United Nations (UN), a demand that came following the Israeli strike at the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which killed two top generals of the Shiite-majority state.
Rockets lunched by Palestinian militants towards Israel make their way from the northern Gaza Strip
© AP Photo / Hatem Moussa
Is There a Way to Sanction Tel Aviv?
Even so, Sodhi believes that nothing would come out of such proposals because the US would not allow sanctioning Israel at the UN.
"For long Russia has been advocating a two-nation solution for peace in the Middle East but the US with its veto powers has negated any such attempts and has been using the UN to shield Israel from its genocide," the retired Indian Army officer stressed.
He opined that the UN needs to act in the interest of humanity and the earth's peace and strive to bring peace to the Middle East.
"It is time that the UN should make Russia the pivot to usher in peace in the Middle East," Sodhi asserted.
On the other hand, Bansal expressed that Israel's attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria violated the Geneva Convention and the global community must criticize that act of the Jewish state.
"I think there is a need to pressure Israel to come to an immediate ceasefire because if we have to save harmless civilians and non-combatants in Gaza, this conflict has to end. In addition to that, the international community must ensure that Hamas and all its collaborators are brought to justice for killing Israeli civilians on October 7 last year," Bansal concluded.
