Israel versus Iran

Middle East expert sees “very high” risk of war

The Israeli army is already waging a multi-front war.(Bild: APA/AFP/RONALDO SCHEMIDT)

Israel's government emphasizes that a response to Iran's missile and drone attacks will follow. However, after five meetings of the war cabinet, there is apparently still no decision on the nature and, above all, the scope of the counter-attack. Although all sides are calling for de-escalation from their allies and the United Nations, some experts consider the risk of war to be very high.

"Such a spiral of escalation slips away very quickly and very easily, because both escalation and de-escalation are risky for both sides," says conflict and protest researcher Tareq Sydiq from Marburg University. "You don't know exactly how the other side will react and at what point war becomes inevitable. I would rate the risk as very high," he adds.

The Israeli army is already waging a multi-front war.(Bild: APA/AFP/RONALDO SCHEMIDT)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been consulting with his generals and ministers for days. They want to avoid a war against Iran, but a further escalation could lead to one.(Bild: AP)

"Willingness to take more risk is new"
Expert Sydiq sees the airstrike against the generals in an embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, to which the Mullah regime responded with 300 missiles and drones at the weekend, in the context of the Gaza conflict: "The presence of the Revolutionary Guards has long been perceived by Israel as a threat to its own security and has also been understood as such." This is because Iran's elite fighting force works together with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and also supports Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Sydiq currently sees major international efforts to avoid war. Nevertheless, the danger of war remains, "because both sides have reasons to continue the escalation". This is nothing new. "What is new is the willingness to take more risks."