The issues between the two countries; Israel and Iran, are not new. Then what is happening at the global stage which has brought the two countries to limelight once again?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called on the International community to support Israel. This call came after Iran ended its limit to its nuclear research and development in its latest response to US sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the removal of all restrictions on Nuclear research and development, which is the third major step to scale down commitments to the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
PM Netanyahu mentioned that Iran is working on a broad front to carry out murderous terrorist attacks against the state of Israel. Hence, he asked for international support to put pressure on Iran to bring these attacks to a halt.
Response to the call
France foreign ministry has requested Iran to refrain from any activities that do not comply with its 2015 nuclear deal obligations. The United Kingdom showed disappointment because of Iran’s plan to take another step away from the landmark nuclear deal.
The tensions shot up as in recent weeks. Israel bombed Iranian backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun and powerful Iraqi paramilitary force both felt that the strikes on their countries were “declaration of war” by Israel.
However, Finance Minister, Moshe Kahlon of Israel, stated that some of the strikes in the region attributed to Israel in recent days “aren’t ours” (Israels’). He added that once even Prime minister remarked that every explosion in the middle-east is attributed to Israel, but all of them doesn’t belong to Israel.
The Twist
Iran and the three European countries- Britain, France and Germany were in talks to save a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in May last year as Netanyahu campaigned against the deal. But the two countries heads, US and Israel who share the same opinions when it comes to Iran, have diverged paths now. This was visible when at the G7 summit, Trump emphasised that Iran is not the same country anymore. The country that used to be no.1 nation is now supporting terrorism. But US ally, Israel thinks the opposite of this.
Now Netanyahu thinks that the US does not play the role of mobilising others to help counter possible threats anymore. Hence, he seeks the help of the rest of the world. Things have changed as the US ended waivers permitting eight countries to receive Iranian oil. And such factors have contributed to Israel’s little faith in US ability to deter Iran.
Iran being unstoppable
Iran’s atomic energy agency stated on Saturday that it was violating another set of limits on its nuclear research and production that was imposed under the 2015 agreement renounced by President Trump last year.
Reports say that Iran is trying to increase pressure on European nations, to find a way around American-imposed sanctions. It is confirmed that Iran had begun steps to conduct work on advanced centrifuges to purify uranium, a fuel for nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
It was the third time this year that Iran had announced steps to break from limits. They added that they would no longer abide by an agreement that the United States was violating by reimposing sanctions. The European Union, Russia and China have all continued to honour the deal, in a split from the Trump administration.
Now the wait is to see what will happen next? Will there be war or cooperation? Who all will come forward for the call by Netanyahu and help in resolving the issue.
