Israel-Iran: spiral to war in the Middle East

Spiral of violence: following tense exchanges between Israel and Iran a woman walks past a banner depicting launching missiles bearing the emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, central Tehran, 15 April 2024

Atta Kenare · AFP · GETTY

After some of the tensest days in the Middle East since the start of the Gaza war last October, Iran and Israel both finally opted to trade blows, but avoided inflicting significant damage, concluding a series of tit-for-tat exchanges that for several days threatened to escalate into a high-intensity regional conflict. The three-stage sequence began on 1 April with Israel bombing Iran's consulate in Damascus. This attack killed several Revolutionary Guards who were providing military and logistical support for Tehran's regional allies.

Then, on the night of 13-14 April, Iran launched Operation True Promise, a volley of 300 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted by Israeli anti-air defences with back-up from the US, France and the UK. Though Israel and the West portrayed this counterattack as a complete failure, Iranian diplomats gave the US, and consequently Israel, several hours' forewarning. The operation did not target any urban or economic centres, signalling Iran's wish to avoid civilian casualties. An Iranian statement said that 'the matter can be deemed concluded.'

But the world anxiously awaited 'the counter-response to the counter-response to the attack', as an Al Jazeera commentator put it on 16 April. It came on Friday 18 April, with a dawn strike by Israeli drones on an airbase near Isfahan. This highly symbolic attack targeted the province where the Natanz nuclear facility is located, a key part of Iran's uranium enrichment programme: it inflicted minimal material damage. 'A de-escalatory response,' suggested Guillaume Ancel. a writer and former member of the French military. But that's unlikely to be the end of it.

If the fake Zionist regime wants to use the threat of attacking the nuclear centres of our country as a tool, reconsidering the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran would be imaginable. Our fingers are on the trigger General Ahmad Haghtalab

The Israeli military, which has gone to (...)

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(1) 'Explosions en Iran: "Israël a mené une riposte de désescalade" ' (Explosions in Iran: 'Israel has gone for a de-escalatory response'), France 24, 19 April 2024.

(2) United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, www.ochaopt.org/.

(10) 'Iran-Israël, les meilleurs ennemis du monde' (Iran and Israel, the best of enemies), France 24, 10 May 2018.