“A military conflict [in Iran] may well be in cards, [Professor Sergei Druzhilovsky of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations] says, referring to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya where the US military practiced military aspects of blitzkrieg and pinpoint attacks. The problem, however, is that unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has no fifth column, a group of people who are, along with America, ready to topple the regime.
“If these hotheads ignore warnings by Russia, China and other responsible members of the international community and decide on military intervention against Iran, the consequences will be serious. This is fraught with not only a regional conflict but a humanitarian catastrophe in the entire Middle East as well. This is a threat to international stability.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that as of March 2012 Tehran will increase its military spending by more than two-fold. Meanwhile, US strategic bombers have already been deployed in Qatar in a sign that a military operation of Western countries and Israel against Iran may be in cards. Its regional and global repercussions will be unpredictable, experts warn.
The United States and its allies continue to dispatch troops and military hardware to the Gulf region. More servicemen have been deployed to the Omani island of Masirah where a US military base is operating. Additionally, more than 10,000 US soldiers have been [that is, will be] stationed in Israel to test this Middle Eastern country’s missile defense system. Another 15,000 US servicemen have been based in Kuwait.
Hundreds of concrete-piercing bombs have been supplied to a US military base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and two US aircraft carrier battle groups are currently on a mission in the Gulf. They are expected to be strengthened by one more aircraft carrier [USS Enterprise], the Annapolis nuclear-powered submarine and the Momsen destroyer. A US military base in Qatar already sees the stationing of several bombers, cargo planes and long-range drones. In the meantime, France and Britain have also dispatched their troops to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
All this indicates the US’ and Israel’s readiness to use force against Iran, believes Professor Sergei Druzhilovsky of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
“A military conflict [in Iran] may well be in cards, Druzhilovsky says, referring to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya where the US military practiced military aspects of blitzkrieg and pinpoint attacks. The problem, however, is that unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has no fifth column, a group of people who are, along with America, ready to topple the regime. In this regard, pinpoint air strikes on Iran are irrelevant because there is nothing to bomb in the Islamic Republic, and because the main goal is to depose the regime which remains a major irritant both for America and the West as a whole. And the question is whether the Iranian people are ready to fend off an aggression or not,” Druzhilovsky concludes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli intelligence agency has alleged that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make at least four atom bombs, and that Tehran’s statements on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program are little more than a bluff. Such misinformation is needed to tarnish Iran’s political image and justify a military operation against the Islamic Republic, believes Vladimir Sotnikov from the Moscow-based Institute for Oriental Studies. In an interview with the Voice of Russia aired on Friday, he also said that the military operation against Iran is likely.
“The situation is tense, and the beginning of a military operation by Israel or the United States against Iran may be in the offing, Sotnikov says. On the other hand, the start of an active phase of the pre-election campaign in the US may prompt President Obama to decide against getting involved in another military conflict now that such conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are yet to be resolved.
As for Israel, it may well resort to the use of force against Iran, which is believed to be Israel’s arch-foe. Meanwhile, harsh sanctions, which were earlier slapped on the Islamic Republic, have already damaged the Iranian economy. If these hotheads ignore warnings by Russia, China and other responsible members of the international community and decide on military intervention against Iran, the consequences will be serious. This is fraught with not only a regional conflict but a humanitarian catastrophe in the entire Middle East as well. This is a threat to international stability,” Sotnikov warns.
Economic implications will also be unpredictable because global oil prices are all but sure to skyrocket, analysts say, adding that the EU embargo on Iranian oil will ride roughshod over the interests of both Iran and EU countries.
Although avoiding a new military conflict is still possible, hopes are fading with every passing day. On February 21, a delegation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts is due to arrive in Tehran to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Herman Nackaerts, head of the IAEA delegation, said that the IAEA wants Tehran to elaborate on all contentious issues pertaining to its atomic program. Many remain downbeat about the results of the discussion given a recent report by the IAEA where the UN nuclear watchdog alleged that Iran’s nuclear program aims to obtain a nuclear weapon.
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