Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the intensive strikes launched by the Israeli army against Hezbollah give no reason for Iran to participate in the fighting, noting that the new phase of the conflict places Tehran at a diplomatically inappropriate time.
The newspaper reports that Iran is currently focused on a diplomatic campaign aimed at reaching a political solution with the United States over its nuclear program.
However, according to the newspaper, it is still too early to know what the Iranian leaders, led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, want and whether they are truly seeking to resolve the nuclear issue or whether their goal is simply to buy time until ‘in October. 2025, expiration date of the clause allowing European countries to renew sanctions against Iran without the right of veto in the Security Council.
The last thing you want
In either case – as the newspaper puts it – the last thing Iran wants in its current diplomatic campaign is to be drawn into a direct military confrontation with Israel, let alone the United States.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Iran has sought a ceasefire, but as the war has continued, it has sought to wear down Israel in a long, multi-front war without paying a very high price. He strongly condemned Israel’s actions and called for a ceasefire. international community to work to put an end to the strikes launched by Israeli forces against Hezbollah targets.
The Iranian president told CNN that Lebanon should not become “another Gaza” in the hands of Israel, and made clear that Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country like Israel, which possesses advanced weapons and enjoys the support of the United States.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was part of the nuclear negotiating team that led to the historic 2015 deal with the United States, confirmed in New York that Iran would not remain indifferent to Israeli attacks and declared that he would support Lebanon, but it is clear – according to the newspaper – that Iran will not intervene militarily in favor of Hezbollah at this stage, especially since senior Iranian officials have put in guards in recent days against the trap set by Israel for Iran.
Escape Actions
Pezeshkian accused Israel of seeking to start a full-scale war in the Middle East and attempting to create a situation that would drag his country into a global confrontation. Its foreign minister said Iran was fully aware that Israel was trying to break the impasse it found itself in. facing Gaza by dragging Iran and the United States into war, but Tehran has no intention of falling into this trap.
Yedioth Ahronoth expected Iran to drag Israel into a long-term war of attrition with Hezbollah if Tel Aviv decided to launch a ground operation in Lebanon, which could exhaust Israel militarily and on the home front and prevent it from achieving its objectives. whether in Gaza or on the northern front.
However, serious and prolonged damage to Hezbollah’s strategic capabilities could change Iran’s assessment of its ability to maintain Hezbollah as a key strategic weapon to deter Israel and respond in the event of an attack on its nuclear facilities.
This scenario – according to Raz Tsemet, a researcher and expert on Iranian affairs at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies – could force Iran to intervene directly to save the Hezbollah project it has sponsored for decades, unless that a ceasefire be reached before Iran needs it. to intervene.