Attacking Iran Is Playing with Fire

In the following article, Iranian Democracy talks with Hossein Royvaran, an expert on international issues, about Israel’s motives in making threats and poisoning the international atmosphere against Iran. Hossein Royvaran believes that if a military attack against Iran occurs, an international war will be launched.

There are a couple of reasons for such a threatening atmosphere and arguments over the possibility of a military attack against Iran by Israel.

First of all, it needs to be considered that right now, Israel is faced with a very serious social justice movement inside the country which has questioned all the current political parties. As a matter of fact, neither the left nor the right wing has any control over this particular movement. It is a new political current formed and influenced by the recent Arab Spring movement in the Middle East. Although it has been stagnating for a while, the movement began its protests again under the slogan “Back to the Streets.” This movement was stopped when an operation called “Eilat” took place. In this operation, Palestinian combatants attacked a bus carrying Israeli soldiers in the Eilat region, located along the common border between Egypt and occupied Palestine, and killed eight Israelis. This incident indicates how the security issue is important for the Israeli government, different political parties and the current social justice movement. When the security of Israel was challenged and/or threatened, the movement stagnated.

In other words, the security issue in Israel used to be the movement’s Achilles’ heel.

Later, on the same day that the Israeli protestors announced their readiness to hit the streets again, Israel launched a new round of attacks against Gaza. In fact, since Israeli government is aware of the fact that security is a main concern for the social movement, it tries to present a portrait of insecurity in order to keep people off the streets. However, the movement showed a different reaction to the government political game this time. Upon the announcement of a new round of attacks on Gaza, the movement’s coordinators, surprisingly, decided not to cancel any of its pre-determined demonstrations in different cities, except in Beersheba, one of the places closest to Gaza. This is an indication that the movement, to some extent, is through with some security concerns it was dealing with in the past.

The next point to consider here is that Israel is experiencing frustration. It thinks that Iran’s nuclear potential, even if peaceful, should be regarded as a threat to Israel’s security. For this reason, they announced their plans to attack Iran’s nuclear sites. However, the reality is that Israel does not dare attack Iran on its own. Israel stated that it would pressure the U.S. through lobbying in Washington to attack Iran. It has tried to stop Iran’s nuclear programs through intelligence security measures. Mossad and the CIA have been collaborating to assassinate the Iranian nuclear scientists. Nevertheless, despite all the assassination plots and the other U.S. and Israeli intelligence security actions, Iran’s nuclear program did not stop. The U.S. and its allies could not achieve their goal by applying four packages of sanctions against Iran either. And all this adds up to Israel’s frustration. By maneuvering on the possibility of military attack, it is trying to cover its failed attempts to stop Iran’s nuclear program.

However, it should be noted that any military attack on Iran by either Israel or the U.S. is going to provoke a serious reaction from Iran. In that case, any American or Israeli forces in the region might be vulnerable to the attack from Iran. Besides, such a war would not be bilateral; an international war is expected to happen with the involvement of various countries. This indicates that the procedures Israel and the U.S. have adopted threaten the security of the whole region. Iran stated firmly in a recent letter to the UN Security Council that such dangerous behavior from Israel and the U.S. is perceived as a serious threat against international security; the Security Council needs to take action against it immediately. This letter shows that Iran is fully aware of the scope and dimensions of this issue and believes that it is playing with fire. Therefore, the United Nations and the Security Council, as the protectors and defenders of the international peace and security, are responsible for the prevention of a devastating war.