The New Moon's Monthly International Produce: "down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (New International Version, Revelation 22:2). 🧘🏾
Murad Sadygzade: Here it is especially important to understand the difference between military temptation and political prudence. The issue would no longer just be strikes on Israel, but the systematic intensification of attacks on the US military presence in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf states, as well as the entire regional infrastructure that enables the US to wage this war.Put simply, the deeper the US enters this theater, the harder Iran will try to turn it into an American problem, not merely an Israeli-Iranian confrontation. The strikes already carried out against bases, diplomatic sites, and regional infrastructure show that this approach has already been implemented in practice.
Fyodor Lukyanov: Over the past decades Western Europe's ability to guarantee its own security has steadily declined. As a result, its states have grown increasingly dependent on American power. The price of autonomy has become too high.Now European NATO members, along with Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia, face a difficult choice. They can join an escalating military confrontation that they did not initiate, risking casualties and further destabilization. Or they can resist the wishes of their principal ally. For now, most appear to be choosing the latter.The situation is even more precarious for the Gulf monarchies. These states sit directly in the conflict zone and host numerous American military installations established after Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Those bases were originally presented as a shield against regional threats.
In reality, they have also become targets.President Donald Trump and his administration have suggested that their European and Asian partners should deploy naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz to ensure freedom of navigation. In practice, this means asking them to protect their own energy supplies after those supplies were jeopardized by the US-Israeli attack on Iran.Tehran had repeatedly warned that it might attempt to close the strait if attacked. Washington and Tel Aviv dismissed these threats. They assumed Iran would not dare, or would not be able, to act.They were mistaken.
