The war rapidly escalates
Shadows of the past are revealing itself in the light. After long years of engaging in an ongoing “shadow war” of multiple indirect attacks between Iran and Israel, both of the once-allied countries have begun preparing for a full-scale war in the Middle East.
On April 14th, 2024, Iran launched the first ever direct attack on Israel ever since the start of the “shadow war” by sending over 300 Iranian military devices (cruise missiles, ballistic weaponry and drones) to wreak havoc and cause destruction in Israel premises. Despite intercepting 99% of the military devices by receiving the help of the U.S and allies, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel “will do whatever is required to defend itself.”
Hossemi Salami, the top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, made a public announcement about the change of Iran’s policy against Israel: “…if from now on the Zionist regime attacks our interests, assets, personalities, and citizens, at any point we will attack against them from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Multiple global leaders from countries such as France and Britain expressed discontent at the unprecedented missile attack, and pressed Israel not to retaliate against Iran. However, on April 19th, 2024, Israel launched an air attack on an Iranian military base located in the central province of Isfahan. The military devices did not hit or injure anybody. The purpose of the attack was to signal Iran that “Israel has the ability to strike inside Iran,” and is fully capable of refuting their attacks if they chose to.
The United States involvement
World leaders are continuing to try to convince Israel and Iran to refrain from falling into a full-scale war. Despite the prior tension between the U.S and Israel in regards to the war in Gaza, multiple U.S officials, including President Biden had announced “full U.S support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.” However, these opinions have shifted since then.
According to a U.S senior official that requested anonymity stated that prior to the Israeli attack on Iran, “Israel officials gave a heads up to their counterparts in Washington that… an attack was in the works… and… indicated it would be carried out in the next several days.” The U.S senior official stated that the U.S “didn’t endorse Israel’s response,” and attempted to convince Israel not to retaliate against Iran. However, both the U.S and Israel has not commented any further on the matter, and do not intend to at all.
There hasn’t been any updates or any further attacks from either side. Since then, the situation has de-escalated but the heightened tension between Israel and Iran persist.
