Despite being virtually isolated in the international arena for its unbridled warmongering, Israel has chosen to persist with its aggressive posturing and open new battle fronts. Its latest missile attack on Iran has only worsened an already precarious security situation in the Middle East, with serious economic implications for the rest of the world. Israeli missiles hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan in central Iran. Though the scale and method of the attack are still unclear, the development amounts to a major escalation in the region which is already under the grip of what appears to be endless violence and suffering.
The explosions near Isfahan airport came less than a week after Iran, in a first direct attack, fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. This was in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials on April 1. Since then, Israeli leaders have been threatening to respond to Iran’s strikes, which turned the two countries’ years-long shadow war into a direct confrontation. Israel is already fighting on two other fronts – against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both are allies of Iran. The escalation comes more than six months into Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip which has reportedly killed nearly 34,000 people and heightens fears of a spiral of violence across the region. For nearly a week, world leaders have urged Israel and Iran to avoid sparking a broader war in the region. But the situation is getting very risky and if the US does not rein in Israel the situation will go out of hand. Another war in the Middle East will have a devastating effect on the world.