The Israel Iran escalation has been occurring for several years. In fact, the cross-border strikes that have occurred in the past few months symbolize a dangerous but predictable escalation. Since 2011, Israel has attacked Syria hundreds of times. Perhaps one of the most notable attacks was the suspected poison gas attack that occurred in the rebel-controlled area of Douma. This was then followed by an Israel strike on a region that was occupied by the Iranians.
Contributing towards the tensions, Iranian head of state has mentioned that such an attack by the US ally Israel, shall be addressed by any means necessary. The Iran heads of state believe that the attacks were conducted by the US ally Israel.
Some of the main reasons for the attack are attributed to the threat of Tehran spreading their military activities to the country. Furthermore, over the past seven years, Iran has been trying to leverage the chaos in Syrian to improve their influence in the region. However, Israel opposes such a move and therefore implements the use of military attacks to address the operations of Iran. Iran is essentially trying to introduce most of their military operations in Syria and Lebanon to use the given countries as a platform for fighting against Israel. However, Israel is against such a move and has also been quick to attack Iranian troops in Syria.
Countries such as the US have already withdrawn for the Iran Nuclear Deal, thereby opposing any such escalating tensions in the area. The United States head of state has responded to the issue by withdrawing for the Iran Nuclear Deal. This is because Iran is believed to have violated the resolutions that were agreed upon by the members in relation to the production and use of military resources (Southfront.org). In fact, the head of state has gone as far as using social media to curb the threats Iran has made to the U.S.A that relate to the use of violence and causing death.
Russia on the other hand has responded quite differently to the issue. The Iran head of state President Assad is a Moscow ally, and Russian troops are currently based in Syria. Russia has vested in interested in the region. Just a few months ago, the military in Russia mentioned that the military would likely target any attackers of Syria, as long as it endangered the lives of Russian Military (O’Connor). More so, Russia blames any unrest in the region for Israel.
China has also been quick to respond to the issue by calling for calm in Syria, where several heads of states and Chinese allies are on alert after fears of revenge attacks by the US (Scmp.com). China has also responded by urging that the best conclusion to the matter would be to conduct investigations and punish the parties responsible for the attacks.
The current military escalation that is occurring in Iran is indeed a matter of huge concern. The use of chemical weapons against the constituents of a given area is considered to be a severe crime. To be specific, solving this issue would first require a comprehensive investigative procedure. International intervention is also necessary when addressing issues that involve the interests of several countries (Miller). For instance, the procedure would have to be conducted by an independent body, such as the U.N, because any other country would lead to several investigative issues. Following this, the investigative agency should then come up with coherent results and the appropriate punitive action for the parties that have been involved in the attacks.
- Miller, Paul D. Armed State Building: Confronting State Failure, 1898-2012. Cornell University Press, 2013.
- O’Connor, Tom. “Russia Responds To Trump’s Military Threats In Syria By Putting Forces On High Alert”. Newsweek, 2018, https://www.newsweek.com/russia-military-high-alert-ready-respond-trump-attack-syria-879421. Accessed 7 Sept 2018.
- Scmp.com. “China Calls For Calm In Syria As Threat Of US Strikes Puts All On Alert”. South China Morning Post, 2018, https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2141144/china-warns-against-military-action-syria-threat-us-strikes. Accessed 7 Sept 2018.
- Southfront.org. “Syria Escalation Scenarios: US Military Options, Russian Responses”. Southfront.Org, 2018, https://southfront.org/syria-escalation-scenarios-us-military-options-russian-responses/. Accessed 7 Sept 2018.
