Israel Appears Ready to Attack Iran, Officials in U.S. and Europe Say

12 comments

1. SS

   Reports say Israel is preparing to strike Iran, with the U.S. pulling diplomats from Iraq in anticipation of retaliation. Trump has recently opposed such a move, preferring negotiation – despite threatening such a strike at earlier stages.

   How might Iran respond? Could this succeed in halting their nuclear program, and is it likely to trigger wider conflict? how will the U.S. and other regional actors react if things escalate?

2. Would this be the time to do it? Iran’s proxy network is severely degraded in many places. What would the goal be?

3. As much as I really don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon – now or ever – I’m uncertain of the wisdom of this. At best, this only sets them back by a few years. It won’t destroy all their stockpiles or the scientific knowledge to start fresh. At worst it could easily have geopolitical implications far beyond the region.

4. Hard to see the risk vs benefit ratio of this be good, negotiations haven’t been exhausted, and it’s vague at best if Trump backs this.

   And there is a real risk of the gulf countries and Israel both being devastated in a war due to a strike that dosen’t even take out the Iranian nucleur program.

5. The best way to ensure that Iran will get nukes is to do this. First off, there is now evidence that it will do much to slow down Iran’s nuke program. Secondly, Iran can always just buy a nuke from NK, China, Pakistan and/or Russia.

6. Iran has 4 or 5 nukes already and a couple more in the next few months.
      I suspect irans nukes are the mobile launchers that putin gave them back in 2017.

7. Attacking Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Iran… Wow

8. Israel’s alignment with Trump led to scrapping the JCPOA. Now, proposing a full-scale attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities; while possessing its own nukes and potentially aiding Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions—is dangerously counterproductive.

   Such an attack would provoke Iran, potentially devastating global oil supplies, and triggering a financial crisis without direct strikes on Israel. It would isolate Israel, turn the Middle East into a disaster zone, and strain U.S. support; especially with Netanyahu’s unpopular wartime expansion.

   Global powers would react negatively: China relies on stable Gulf oil transit, Russia values Iran as a key ally, and forcing NATO to support an unprovoked attack by a non-member could fracture the alliance while being forced to defend Israel from self-inflicted consequences.

9. If Israel hits the Iranian nuclear reactors and causes a significant release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, Iran would be justified in responding to a nuclear attack.

10. If Iran nuclear program got destroyed, we could still see a nuclear fallout in Israel when Iran target their nuclear power plant.

11. If there is an attack, I think we’ll at least see a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. The effects of that could be more pronounced than the damage Israel ‘might’ be able to do to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

12. Israel has nuclear-armed submarines, so I don’t really see Iran attacking Israel with nukes in any scenario except their country’s imminent destruction. Giving nukes to their proxies would be likely considered by Israel to be the same as using the nukes themselves. Frankly, Israel’s nukes are probably the #1 reason Iran feels the need to have nukes.

    The U.S. should remain neutral in this conflict. Israel is the relatively “newcomer” in the area, they’ve acted like jerks for a long time, illegally aquired nukes, and they’ve been trying to dominate the entire region for decades. They have massive global influence, funds, and global media to support them. They do not “need” the U.S. to stick its neck out to help them while they promote aggressive policies, expanding settlements, etc. It’s not worth another 9/11, when Israel hasn’t given peace a real try.
    If Israeli extremists had not killed Yitzhak Rabin and went down a dark path of extremism…. who knows, there may have been peace by now.

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