By Leonel Nodal on April 15, 2024 from Havana
Iranian drone factory
The recklessness and adventurism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his attempt to escape from the political, moral and military failure in Gaza -through an escalation that involved the United States in an undesirable war with Iran- only succeeded in revealing the colonial submission of the Zionist state to Washington’s warlike protection, which tries to reduce the political costs and the erosion of the electoral flow of President Joseph Biden, Democratic candidate for reelection.
Don’t go on! With those two words – a dry and forceful order – Biden stopped Netanyahu in his tracks. And he said them in public. Everyone heard it and recorded it. That’s it, not another step, the U.S. president told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. Period, at least for now and perhaps for a long time. The little game of war with Iran is over. Two world-class roles for the questioned superpower are enough. One more is out of the question. First, the White House had to assure Tehran that it had nothing to do with the April 1st aerial bombing of the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus. An inconceivable “I didn’t do it” in the face of the barbaric attack that brought down the Consulate and resulted in the deaths of 16 people, among them seven Iranians, including two high-ranking generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, for several years advisors to the Syrian government.
graphic: Emory Douglass
Such an affront, violating all norms of international and diplomatic law, the Islamic Republic of Iran could not overlook. It said so loud and clear. It demanded a condemnation from the UN Security Council, from the European Union… a reprimand to its Israeli ally and protégé by the United States. Neither the UN – weakened by Washington’s systematic boycott of any sanction or criticism of the Zionist regime – nor its “Western” allies lifted a finger or said a critical word.
It was then that the highest authority of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei, decided that Israel should be punished accordingly. And it was there that the arrogant “West” – led by Washington – that serves and is served by Israel in its geostrategic policies and historical appropriation of natural resources in the Middle East, made a mistake.
The Iran of the popular Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the pro-American dictatorial regime of Shah Reza Pahlevi in 1979 and defied the subsequent coup attempt by the administration headed by Democrat James Carter – which ultimately cost him re-election – decided to prove that it would put the aggressor in its place. It did so with both wisdom and force. So much so that Iran had the luxury of giving them the time to prepare their defenses. A fair play as in sports.
Washington got the message. The Pentagon enlisted its resources to assimilate the Iranian counter-attack. It mobilized Tel Aviv, France and Great Britain, to add anti-aircraft defense resources of the highest level to thwart the damage of any conceivable strike.
Senior officials and the White House itself, in gauging the magnitude of the Iranian air counterattack, estimated more than 200 drones and long-range rockets. An incursion of several hours, long distance, predictable. It was the maximum number, the ceiling of what we foresaw, they said.
The unprecedented action, Iran’s free and independent decision to launch its missiles and drones from its territory against Israeli military positions, without entrusting itself to any other friendly or supposedly allied power, tested its strength as a regional power, a prestige with a history, derived also from a cultural influence of several centuries.
As soon as the avalanche of drones and rockets towards Israel became known, it was clear that the United States took command and coordination of the defensive actions, while Great Britain and France added their resources.
Netanyahu was looking for an escalation of the war and did not succeed. As soon as Iran concluded the counterattack and secured its objectives,
Washington terminated the extensive and costly defensive operation mounted with European allies. The next step was a clear and public warning to the Israeli government that they should not even think of launching another operation under any pretext of revenge.
Source: Juventud Rebelde, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English