If you follow what’s been going on in recent days in the Middle East from only the BBC and Sky, it must seem as if Israel has broken a series of ceasefires in order to satisfy either some insatiable appetite for war or – as much coverage seems to imply – some sort of crazed bloodlust.
Iranian military capability has taken a huge hammering
Reality is, of course, very different. It’s a statement of fact that Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran were in response to yesterday’s Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel. But that doesn’t get us very far. So why did Iran attack Israel, when – in theory – it’s in the middle of negotiations for some sort of broader deal with the United States?
Those negotiations need to be seen for what they are: the Iranians taking full advantage of the latest display of what has become known as TACO – Trump always chickens out. The regime believes (almost certainly correctly) that Donald Trump has tired of military action, and so are doing what they do best: continuing to pour poison across the region with attacks on the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and now Israel, while purporting to be seeking some sort of deal.
But the specific explanation for this latest Iranian attack lies with Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon.
