The United States and Iran have reached the brink of war. Retaliatory attacks and assassinations in Syria and Iraq have pitted both against each other amid tensions following Israel's invasion of Gaza. A report by the influential British magazine The Economist says so.
According to the report published on Sunday (January 21), the Gaza conflict, which started after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, has crossed 100. US President Joe Biden has been actively helping Israel win since the beginning of the conflict. He is also trying to prevent this conflict from spreading across the Middle East.
According to reports, however, it is getting difficult day by day for him to cope with the situation. Iran's 'resistance groups' and Israel and the US have engaged in counter-attacks, more dangerous attacks on each other. Incidents of assassination against each other are also going on.
Iran-backed groups have carried out more than 140 drone and rocket attacks targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began, according to reports. Perhaps the biggest of these attacks took place last Saturday (January 20). According to US Central Command, "several missiles and rockets" were fired at the Ain Al Asad US base in western Iraq.
However, most of them were destroyed by Patriot air defense systems. A few rockets still hit the base. Several US and Iraqi soldiers were injured. Immediately after this, the US also launched counterattacks on Iran's proxy groups.
According to the report, President Biden is under increasing pressure to take strong military action against Iran after the attack. This has resulted in a dual crisis. If no action is taken, the US will appear vulnerable. If countermeasures are taken, President Biden risks a new battle in an election year.
According to the report, meanwhile, the United States has so far conducted seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi rebels, another ally of Iran in Yemen, to stop missile attacks on foreign ships in the Babel Mandev Strait. The rebel group says it is fighting in support of the Palestinians. As part of that, the Red Sea and Babel are attacking Israeli and Western ships in the Straits of Mandev.
Reports claim, but their targeting is sparse. If they are enlisting the help of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to identify Israeli and Western ships. US airstrikes did not stop Houthi attacks. The US President himself has admitted this. He said that the American attack will not stop the Houthis.
According to the report of The Economist, the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is preparing and planning to carry out an "effective military operation" in Yemen. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, Iran's oldest and most powerful ally in Lebanon, is regularly exchanging fire and rockets with Israeli forces. They also expressed support for Hamas. But it has not yet started a full-scale war with Israel.
The report also said that since October 7, Israel has threatened to attack Lebanon, but the Biden administration has discouraged Israel. However, if the attack is not stopped through diplomatic efforts, Israel said that it will carry out a major operation in addition to retaliation against Hezbollah.
According to the report, the United States and Iran continue to play a dangerous and balancing game like this. Iran continues to help "resistance groups" carry out attacks aimed at weakening Israel. Through this, at the same time, Tehran wants to drive the United States out of the Middle East and humiliate the Arab states who want to normalize relations with Israel. On the contrary, the United States has carried out limited attacks. However, both have avoided direct conflict. But ultimately balancing may not be possible.
