TEHRAN – It took me a while to understand the sounds of waking up early on Friday morning. The windows were rattling and my first thought was an earthquake. Or maybe it was an accident at a construction site next door. Israel’s attack on Tehran’s home construction was the most distant from my heart in the first, confused minutes.
At first, no one could completely believe what was going on. How could the US and Israel launch an attack on Iran in the middle of the diplomatic process? Hours before the attack, I spoke to some of my colleagues who were preparing to travel to Oman for indirect nuclear negotiations for the sixth round of the week with the US. This time I asked some of them that they believed a breakthrough was possible. Some cited Trump’s previous statement. There, he claimed that he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid attacking Iran. Even if Trump was “crazy,” they argued, and he seemed to have a clear idea when he came to West Asia, realizing that another war in the region, especially wars involving Iran, would benefit no one.
But Trump turns out to be as crazy and ignorant as we always knew. The US President provided Israel with the logistics and information needed to attack Iranian housing, nuclear facilities and military locations while being set up to meet Iranians in Omani. More than 250 civilians are now dead, along with a generation of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Why did Israel attack Iran?
Netanyahu argues that attacks aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons are aimed at justification, even minimally awarded for Iran’s nuclear programmes, for little acceptance.
The IAEA and the Western intelligence agency have confirmed many times that despite nuclear advancements, Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons and has not demonstrated a political will to do so. If Iran develops such weapons in the future, it will likely be a direct result of Israel’s brave attack, making them feel like they need such an arm.
Furthermore, the regime’s attacks on Natantz and Fordau’s nuclear facilities failed to cause significant damage. According to the latest announcement from Iran’s nuclear chief, both sites are currently operating normally. This was not a surprise. Because for some time the whole world knew that major parts of Iran’s nuclear facilities had been placed under the ground, and that it would be impossible to destroy them with conventional weapons. Netanyahu certainly knew this fact, given his close relationship with IAEA Director Rafael Grossi.
So why did Israel attack Iran? To understand why Iran was attacked, we must first examine Israeli attacks.
The regime’s operations against Iran consisted of three elements: assassination of military leaders, nuclear attacks and civilian fear.
Israel believed that the attack would bring about three things:
1. Assassination of top Iranian commanders will delay or prevent retaliation
2. All or a significant number of Iranian missile launchers, depots and military facilities will be destroyed throughout Friday’s campaign
3. Killing Iranian civilians and hitting the centre of Tehran would make people oppose the government and promote an uprising
All assumptions have been proven false. The loss of five military leaders hit Iran, but did not cripple the Iranian army. It took Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, only hours to replace the attacked general.
We don’t know how much damage Israel has done to Iran’s military assets, but it is clear that most of the country’s defensive and offensive calibers are still on track.
Since the conflict began, Iran has fired multiple waves of missile strikes against the occupied territories, attacking key targets such as Haifa Oil Refinery, Mossad and Aman headquarters, military bases and nuclear research centres. Iranian forces previously said there were enough missiles to attack Israeli targets daily for two years.
Another Israeli forecast that proved false was that given the various financial and social issues that have grasped Iran in recent years, people would choose to overthrow the government to “save” their lives. Netanyahu issued a message to the Iranian people and later interviewed the US-based Persian channel to tell him that he was only at war with the government and wanted to bring freedom and prosperity to the Iranians. But Iranians know better than trusting convicted war criminals. The Israeli attack not only made the Iranians more united, but also encouraged famous individuals with a long history of reflexive activities gathering behind Ayatollah Khamenei.
What Israel has acquired and lost
Netanyahu was able to experience a temporary euphoria. However, it was the future of the Zionist regime that he gambled.
Settlers of occupied territory are used to fighting wars that do not face existential threats. For the first time in Israel’s history, its citizens fear their lives. Iranian missiles attack freely, and real Israelis have recently been confronted. As reported by the Hebrew media, residents have banned fugitives by authorities, and are now paid to smugglers and are transported by boat to Cyprus.
Journalists say they are all right about what’s going on, military analysts say so far, Israeli interceptors who have defeated old Iranian missiles designed to be engrossed in air defense systems will soon be abolished.
Netanyahu and Trump Essentials took part in a war that never ended. To me, they really don’t seem to know Iran. So, now they have to sit down and watch Iran write the ending of their story.