Iran has launched missiles into Israel

[Viviennemary]

Sky News is reporting Iran has launched missiles into Israel. It's very scarey. It should never have got to this escalation. Awful.

I feel like I living in an alternative universe? How can the world just watch while this goes on? So many lives ruined, ended. They’re human beings too!

What would be the point of an Iranian nuclear bomb then? Why would it affect Israel’s ability supposedly to act “as they choose with complete impunity, with total disregard for human life, and International Law.”

The EU and UK, after the USA, have supplied a vast quantity of weapons, warplanes, and "dual use" products (which are often used to make weapons) to Israel. Their governments have provided unilateral support to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and are now continuing to do so with Lebanon. The UK and EU governments have very much "chosen a side".

My guess is that we may see more terror attacks in the UK and EU. On a wider geopolitical perspective I don't know enough but our governments have implicated us if we chose it or not.

💯 this.
He is a total disgrace and should be in prison.
He has destroyed the lives of so many people.
He has made the security unsafe for Israelies too.
NEEDS TO BE ON TRIAL AND IN PRISON.
THE CROOK AND EVIL TYRANT HE IS.

Because the mere threat of a retaliation to continued conventional aggression and persecution should be enough to temper behaviour somewhat, much in the same way being nuclear capable tempers other hostile neighbours around the world.

Pakistan and India are both nuclear capable and share a similar enmity to Iran and Israel, likewise the Koreas. Neither of those stage illegal invasions of sovereign neighbours under the guise of anti-terrorist ops, because they are both aware that these things have the possibility to escalate and conflagrate into a nuclear exchange.

Israel and the West get away with doing whatever they choose to sovereign Arab states purely because they know these states can't respond conventionally and there is no possibility of it escalating into a nuclear conflict.

One day it will be a step too far and the nuclear button will be pushed.

It's difficult. I don't think the world should just stand and watch, but equally, getting involved in any way would probably increase the risk of the conflict spreading and escalating.

What upsets me is that we are still "standing with" Israel and selling arms to them. Don't get me wrong, what happened on October 7th last year was utterly horrific and they had an absolute right to take action to defend themselves and recover their hostages etc, but their response has been wildly disproportionate and shockingly untargeted, resulting in unimaginable suffering for so many innocent people. I'm ashamed that we, as a country, are standing by Netanyahu's blatant warmongering. We should distance ourselves from both sides and focus exclusively on providing humanitarian support to those who affected.

No, because beyond protecting the arms market in client states, nuclear capable nations don't give a hoot about Arab and Muslim lives, or the Sovereignty of Arab and Muslim states, at least, not to the point where they will intervene with nuclear weapons.

Putin propping up Assad, sure, but Putin is not assisting Assad to hold off any enemy with nuclear capability, and likewise, the West is happy to ignore Israeli intransigence because the Israelis are not picking fights with anyone nuclear-capable.

So Israel will now destroy Iran, backed by US firepower, I’d say that’s pretty much certain now.

They didn't destroy Iran back in April, so why now ?

But you said that Iran wouldn’t use a nuclear bomb on Israel.

Are you saying it would only be used to face down threatened attacks on Iran?

How would that have stopped Israel fighting Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon?

Since the present Iranian rockets are being fired because Israel blew up the Hezbollah leader, not because it attacked Iranian soil, how would Iran’s nuclear policy fit into that?

I don't think a complete WW, but definitely it's snowballing a bit isn't it

Of course Israel is the country most wary of the Iranian administration, because Iran’s policy is the destruction of Israel and the extermination of all Jews.

Iran views Israel as an illegal Zionist coloniser and would like to replace it with one Muslim Palestinian state. They favour a one state solution that is in direct opposition to the one state solution that Israel is pursuing. They don’t really care about Palestinians, they just don’t want the USA throwing its weight around the Middle East via their proxy Israel. This has led them to silly choices like aligning with Russia.

However, Iran is home to the second largest population of Jews in the world outside Israel, most of whom are in Tehran and major cities. Iran’s policy does not include “extermination of all Jews” (which is a dehumanising way of putting it- surely you should have written it as the genocide of all Jews?”) either in word or deed. Although, given this enduring conflict the high antisemitism levels have led to a constant trickle of Jews emigrating from Iran to Israel. The ones left are largely secular and think of themselves as Iranian first, and Jewish second.

I think you might have things the wrong way around.

My guess is that we may see more terror attacks in the UK and EU

This is probably true 😟

You just don't know anything about Israel then.

And why exactly should Netanyahou be singled out? How about Putin who had waged war against Ukraine for far too long now.

1. Iran's stated policy is the elimination of Israel. People in Israel believe that, whereas those in the West often seem to have some kind of superiority complex where they can transpose their own beliefs onto Arab/Persian political actors and decide what they really mean.
2. Iran has been an aggressive international actors towards Israel, building up its 'Ring of Fire' around the state through proxies
3. The Hamas massacre was the start of the Iran-Israel war. It was an act of brutality by Iran, through its proxy, to destroy the Sunni-Israel partnership. This is because Israel's integration into the Sunni world would have materially weakened Iranian influence

However, Iran is home to the second largest population of Jews in the world outside Israel, most of whom are in Tehran and major cities

Are you sure? Not according to this:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351079/jewish-pop-by-country/

Wikipedia suggests there are fewer than 9,000 Jews in Iran:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Jews

There might be more Jews in Iran than any other Middle Eastern country, outside Israel, but that’s not saying anything.

Are you saying it would only be used to face down threatened attacks on Iran?

No, I'm saying Iran having a viable nuclear deterrent would prevent nearby neighbours from continually sabre-rattling at Iran and bullying Iran-aligned states, because the possibility of escalation would not only deter Israeli aggression, but it would also make the US and European supporters of Israel far more likely to intervene, far less keen to assist Israel with Intelligence and financial support, and leave Israel in a position where it genuinely couldn't afford to go throwing its completely artificial weight around the way it has been doing for decades.

The reason Iran is continually prevented from developing it's nuclear industry is nothing to do with threat to Israel, although that's how it's invariably sold by western and Israeli propaganda. It's entirely about maintaining the total imbalance of power in the middle-east because it suits Western and Israeli interests to maintain the status quo. In the meantime, it's innocent people in Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, and Iran who will continue to be killed, but since it's overwhelmingly Muslim and Arab casualties, there is no genuine desire in the nations that could bring this to a halt for the situation to change.

Netanyahu himself has openly stated he sees no way to end this until Israel effectively ethnically cleanses the region, and he'll continue to use the IDF as his tool to do that, because there is no will to stop him anywhere that actually could stand up to him or give him pause for thought. A nuclear capable Iran would do just that.

Unless we distance ourselves which is what seems to be happening. The tone under Labour has perceptibly shifted. We dropped the Tory challenge to the ICC arrest warrant requests for Netanhyu and Gallant. We have stopped export licenses on around 30 items used in the current conflict in Gaza which go to the IDF. The list of suspended items includes important components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones as well as items which facilitate ground targeting, that would be used in Gaza. There are a number of export licences (320) which are not for military use in the current conflict in Gaza and were not stopped (such as trainer aircraft or other naval equipment), and other, non-military items such as food-testing chemicals, telecoms and data equipment. The statements have gone from,We stand by Israel’s right to defend itself, but please adhere to international humanitarian laws to a ceasefire is needed immediately, we are appalled at this week’s atrocity and call on Hamas to release the hostages.

I can see our government shifting further towards pushing for peace tbh.

I think too since Bush made a fool of Blair with Iraq, we might turn down the Americans if they ask us to send troops if this erupts into a regional war and they want to send a sizeable force into Iran.

I don't think a complete WW, but definitely it's snowballing a bit isn't it

It feels like a hideous pattern, this isn't the first time Israeli military have gone into Lebanon is it ? Not the first time Iran has fired missiles at Israel ? Its just so bloody tragic that so many innocent civilians get caught up in it every time.
This type of conflict perpetuates the draw of the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah, who lets be honest aren't generally that popular amongst ordinary people, until events like this happen. This conflict will give them a steady stream of wannabe martyrs for a very long time to come.

It feels like a hideous pattern, this isn't the first time Israeli military have gone into Lebanon is it ?

No.

It happens regular as clockwork in the dog days of US Presidencies, because no US Presidential candidate can risk the optics of being seen to be anything other than 100% behind Israeli freedom of action in the area.

Sorry, my mistake, I got that from a 2018 USA Today article then failed to type out the mideast qualifier. My mistake. I wish I could edit the post now.
https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/world/inside-iran/2018/08/29/iran-jewish-population-islamic-state/886790002/

👍

Note: However, Iran is home to the second largest population of Jews in the world Middle East outside Israel,

I erroneously typed in the world instead of in the Mideast. It was not my intention to deceive.