Iran

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has warned that some in Iran believe the nation’s “life and survival lie in war,” openly questioning the logic behind that stance, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. “Some say: ‘First, we will teach America a lesson here, then we will go to the heart of America and fight it there.’ But what reality is this based on?” Khatami asked. “My feelings were also wounded when they killed our commander, and one’s eyes could almost weep blood. But governing a society cannot be based on raw emotion,” he added. “We must consider what serves the ultimate interests of the country, the system, and Islam." In the meantime, Iranian Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is currently in Baghdad, says his visit to Iraq is intended to strengthen what he called a “new regional order” without foreign interference. Speaking at the site where former General Qassem Soleimani was killed, Ghalibaf said: “Today’s visit to Iraq is aimed at strengthening the new order in the region and accelerating mutual cooperation among all countries of the region, without the intervention of foreign powers.” He added that Islamic countries in the region should seek to establish “deep security interactions and ties” supported by sustainable economic cooperation. “The Islamic Republic of Iran declares its full readiness to realise this regional model,” he added.

The US-Iran conflcit has now become truly a crisis which is engulfing the entire Middle East. The options open to the US appear to be narrowing. And in the absence of a strategy, what we see is a daily knee-jerk reaction, in the form of daily bombardments or Iran. US ally, Israel, in the meantime continues with military operations in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. Iran is retaliating with atttacks on Arab countries. the latest target being Egypt. Iran's allies in Yemen and Iraq are also weighing in. Iran appears to have regained its balance, after the killing of the Supreme Leader on 28 February. Apart from Iran and Israel, the conflict has now engulfed the six GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Oman), as well as Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. With the conflict now entering its sixth month, and expanding, the consequences are huge, and not as Donald Trump expected when he capricously launched it.