Paul Nuki, Jotam Confino – The Telegraph Aug 13, 2024
Iran will not launch an attack on Israel if there is a ceasefire deal in Gaza, officials in Tehran said on Tuesday.
It is the first time Iran has linked its threatened retaliation against Israel to the Gaza peace and hostage negotiations.
Israel has been braced for a twin attack from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon for two weeks after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Iran is said to fear an attack on its nuclear facilities should a regional war break out, while Israel is reportedly plotting strikes on the country’s water and oil infrastructure to shatter its economy and bring down its hard-line Islamic regime.
For two weeks, the US has sought to avert an escalation by rushing massive military capability into the region while pursuing a peace deal.
Its strategy hinges on a new round of ceasefire talks scheduled to take place in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Thursday.
On Tuesday night, Joe Biden said it was his “expectation” that Iran would hold off on a retaliatory strike if a ceasefire agreement is reached.
Three “senior Iranian officials” quoted by Reuters have now linked the country’s planned military response to the Doha talks.
Iran was even considering sending a representative to the talks as an observer to “maintain a line of diplomatic communication” with the US while negotiations proceeded, one of the unnamed officials said.
“Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack [on Israel] if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations,” Reuters reported one of the sources as saying. “The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding.”
Iran does not directly control Hezbollah but has significant influence over both it and Hamas as the principal funder of both terrorist groups.
Reuters quoted a source close to Hezbollah who said Iran would give the negotiations in Doha a chance but would not give up entirely on its intention to strike Israel.
A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller, “symbolic” response, one of the sources said.
The US-led diplomatic effort to avert war remains intense, with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, expected to arrive in the region on Tuesday night.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and Olaf Sholtz, the German chancellor, spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, on Monday, expressing their concern about a regional war if Iran followed through on its threats to attack Israel directly.
The US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany urged Tehran to stand down in a joint letter.
However, Iran continued to insist on its right to respond to an attack on its soil.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, said: “The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty.”
Instead of issuing such demands, Western nations should “once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel”, Mr Kanaani added.
Iran would “never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond”.
Israel’s Army Radio reported that Israel had conveyed messages to its allies warning that it would strike Iran if it launched an attack.
“We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Mr Blinken would visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in a last-ditch attempt to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas had been holding out on attending the talks but on Tuesday the US said that may change.
“Qatar has assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented,” said Vedant Patel, a state department spokesman.
IRISH ACTIVIST HAILED AS A HERO
The Charges have been dropped against pro-Palestinian campaigner for ‘direct action’ in a Belfast supermarket
due to public outcry
Pro-Palestinian protester, says he was prepared to “battle this in court” in order to highlight the plight of Palestinians.
Eoin Rua Davey was arrested after Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Belfast held a protest at a Sainsbury’s branch at the Kennedy Centre in west Belfast on July 14.He later faced Aggravated Trespass charges, which have now been withdrawn.
Eoin Davey has said there will be massive unrest if Nutenyau goes ahead with the plan to flood ireland with millions of palestinians syrians and lebanese expelled from the occupied territories
The BDS campaign encourages the international community to turn its back on Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians and its many international crimes
Members of the group have been involved in a long-term international campaign to encourage members of the public not to buy Israeli goods. To highlight their cause BDS activists regularly enter stores stocking Israeli goods and remove them from shelves. Around 40,000 people, including thousands of women and children, have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since last October.
Israel launched a huge operation with around 1,200 people killed during an attack inside Israeli territory, during which around 250 hostages were taken.
This goes to show just how powerful Iran has become. I suspect it’s bluff was called and those who called it are now concerned. It didn’t just become powerful in the last two months so they pushed its limits when it was already a formidable force. Western elites first are trouble, then cowards when they find it. If they get away with it they’ll learn nothing and will do it again. It’s time to punch their teeth out, every last one.
Absolute crap. The Iranians have already told the yanks they won’t attack the yids in retaliation for the incursions into Iran. Like others have said the BASTARDS are all in on it.
Firstly, Hezbollah and Hamas are not terrorist groups but the talmud evil cult are the terrorists Just remember Palestine is Palestinian land and not the occupiers and imposters babylonian khazars.
Yes, Iran is the winner already by being so diplomatic is requesting a stop to the genocide against the Palestinians instead of a military strike against the imposters/occupiers of Palestine whom historically always want to plunder and control every country they live in. Kudos to you leaders of Iran. You are already the winners just by wanting peace instead of war.
Iran is sitting in the Catbird Seat. Every day a fully prepared Iran doesn’t attack, is a victory for Iran. Day by day, the Israeli economy is failing and the Israelis sit on edge, while the US fleets wait at the ready costing billions of dollars per day. Just be prepared for a USS Liberty attack or Gulf of Tonkin false flag by the Israelis… they are getting impatient for war.
phylis costa i always like your comments thankyou
@Grimsson.
I have to back you up again.
Further the CIA replaced two successive Iranian regimes. The first was Mohammad Mosaddegh. Heck, even Wikipedia mentions it:
“Mohammad Mosaddegh[a] (Persian: محمد مصدق, IPA: [mohæmˈmæd(-e) mosædˈdeɢ] ⓘ;[b] 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis.[4][5] He was a member of the Iranian parliament from 1923, and served through a contentious 1952 election into the 17th Iranian Majlis,[6] until his government was overthrown in the 1953 Iran coup aided by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom (MI6) and the United States (CIA), led by Kermit Roosevelt Jr.[7][8] His National Front was suppressed from the 1954 election.[9]
Before its removal from power, his administration introduced a range of social and political measures such as social security, land reforms and higher taxes including the introduction of taxation on the rent of land. His government’s most significant policy was the nationalisation of the Iranian oil industry, which had been built by the British on Persian lands since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC), later known as British Petroleum (BP).”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh
But it doesn’t give the real lowdown on his successor, the Shah. You have to go to John Coleman and a few others for that information. The Shah was removed after he fell out of favour, and the Ayatollah was parachuted in by the same operators…I recall that Iran and Iraq were getting on famously, but TPTB wanted to distract Iraq’s possible attentions towards Israel by installing Islamic fundamentalists in Iran. Iran supplied Israel with oil in return for arms during the Iran-Iraq war.
SO. I ASK THE QUESTION: IF THE LEADERSHIP OF IRAN WAS NOT DOING AS THEY WERE TOLD BY THE JUDEO-AMERICAN AXIS THEN WHY NOT JUST ORCHESTRATE A REGIME CHANGE? IT WORKED TWICE BEFORE!
Unless of course some showdown or minor skirmish was all part of the act. This is turning out to be the “Cuban Missile (non-crisis)” of our generation. A Nobel peace prize for Biden perhaps?