Yesterday, the news was dominated by the reporting of the threat from Iran to attack Israel in retribution after the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. It was surmised Iran was livid that the attack took place in their own country and was facilitated by Iranian agents hired by Mossad, placing the explosive in a guest house two months before it was detonated remotely. Shortly after the bombing, Iran vowed to retaliate, and it might have been signaled by a red flag flying over the Jamkaran Mosque in its seventh-largest city. The significance of the flag in Shia Islam is a call for vengeance.
On July 30, 2024, Israel confirmed they killed another high-ranking Hezbollah military commander in Beirut, Fu’ad Shukr, during an airstrike. It is commonly accepted that Iran supports Hamas and Hezbollah in the terrorist activities against Israel. For now, Israel is just waiting for the attack, and regardless of what form it will be, it will undeniably escalate the turmoil in the Middle East.
The tension has grown because Iran is no longer in financial difficulties thanks to the Biden Administration waving sanctions and allowing them to access frozen funds in foreign banks. The rush of money into the coffers in Tehran accelerated, along with the opportunity to sell oil to China. The release of funds and the ability to sell oil have been used to advance their nuclear arms ambitions, as well as funding terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
No one is quite certain about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In 2023, the BBC reported that Iran had enriched uranium to 83%. Weapon-grade uranium must be 90% or better. We are now in 2024, and the question is whether Iran has crossed the 90% threshold and already has nuclear capabilities.
The possibility of a nuclear conflict in the Middle East is becoming a frightful scenario. Israel already has nuclear power, and if Iran has the potential and will use it, catastrophic human suffering and death could be forthcoming. A nuclear war would not be limited to these two countries; other smaller countries would be affected along with countries like Turkey and Russia, both sympathetic to Iran. Any nuclear strike would surely be the catalyst for the Third World War, the deadliest in human history.
Unlike the war between Ukraine and Russia, diplomacy must start now in earnest between Israel and Iran through the United States and other countries. Sanctions must be reinstated immediately on Iran to slow their maniacal ideology of eliminating the Jewish state. They have already told the world they want Israel wiped off the face of the earth; we have no reason not to believe them.
The ridiculous foreign policy of the United States has led in part to this conflict. They believed that helping Iran would bring stability to the Middle East when, in reality, it fueled the conflict by allowing Iran to spend surplus money to arm themselves and their proxies. It is like giving money to a thug, knowing he will spend the money on a gun while repeatedly telling you he is going to kill his neighbor.
Nuclear power is nothing to play with because once unleashed, all of the nuclear states of the world will similarly defend themselves. The destruction will be unparalleled, and the deaths unimaginable. The conflict in the Middle East is a tinderbox of destruction which, if permitted to happen, will spread through the world like wildfire.
Hopefully, Iran’s response will be calculated and result in few, if any, casualties. The threat of nuclear war has changed everything, and once the genie is out of the bottle, you will never get it back in.
Pray for peace.