Will Israel respond or not to the massive attack with drones and missiles launched by Iran during the night between Saturday and Sunday? And if so, when and how? The questions continue to remain unanswered. Israeli authorities purposely leave Iran and allies in limbo as they continue to study options. And diplomacy moves frenetically. «We cannot remain with crossed arms in the face of such aggression, Iran will not emerge unscathed. We will respond at the time, in the place and in the way we decide”, the army spokesman Daniel Hagari reiterated this morning. However, the Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, is moving on another level: he has written to the representatives of 32 countries to ask for new sanctions to be applied against Iran, in particular against its missile program. UN sanctions in this area expired last autumn. Katz also calls for the countries closest to Israel’s sensitivities to stop delaying and declare Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization. At the moment only the USA classifies them as such. And the willingness to once again press the sanctions button immediately filters through from the White House: «We will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions power so as to continue to disturb the malicious activities and destabilize us of the Iranian regime», he warned Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Iran between fear and warnings
Trying to add water to the fire on the opposite front is Vladimir Putin, in the unprecedented guise of peacemaker: today he spoke on the phone with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressing the hope that “Iran and Israel will exercise moderation to avoid a new escalation”. Raisi himself would have clarified to Putin that the attacks launched on Saturday night against Israel were “limited” and that the Tehran regime is not interested in further escalation in the Middle East. But then, speaking with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Raisi also warned that “the smallest action against Iranian interests will certainly meet with a severe, widespread and painful response against anyone who perpetrates it.” The warning launched to Israel by the spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Tehran Parliament Abolfazl Amouei is somewhere between grotesque and threatening: «The Zionists would do better to behave rationally, because if they were to take military action against Iran we are ready to use a weapon that we have never used before”, said Amouei, assuring, reports the Irna news agency, that “we have plans for all scenarios and we will act courageously. Our message is peace and at the same time Iran’s military preparation.”
Lethal blows between Israel and Hezbollah
While awaiting any developments on the front with Tehran, real fire was exchanged as is now customary between Israel and Hezbollah. An IDF air raid on Ayn Baal, in southern Lebanon, hit and killed a “senior Hezbollah commander”, identified as Abu Jaafar Baaz. A little later two drones launched from Lebanon exploded in Israeli territory, in the Beit Hillel area. A fire spread, which was soon put out, and three people were slightly injured according to the authorities, who are investigating the reasons why the alarm sirens were not sounded as usual. Hezbollah celebrates the success of the attack, claiming to have hit “platforms of Iron Dome”, Israel’s air defense system.
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