The explosiion at a military facility in Isfahan, Iran, January 28, 2023
As US and Israeli officials confirm Israel’s drone strike on a military facility in central Iran last weekend, I joined a panel on France 24 to debate the motives and the significance for Israel, Iran, the US, and the Middle East.
The discussion ranges from Israel and Iran to the stalled Iranian nuclear talks to Tehran’s increasing isolation and economic problems. We also consider other regional developments from Israel-Palestine to Azerbaijan, as well as any linkage of the Israeli strike with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The other panellists are Barbara Slavin of the Stimson Center, Ely Karmon of Israel’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, and Matthew Brodsky of The Gold Institute.
“Israel Carried Out Drone Attack on Iran Military Facility”
Iran’s leaders have precious few friends left. It is now being forced to rely more and more on Russia.
What you saw this weekend was both a military and a political message.
It was a military message from the Israelis, “If you continue to make missiles, we will hit you.”
And it’s a political message: “If you put all your chips on Russia, providing drones to kill Ukrainian civilians and strike energy infrastructure, you will pay a price.”
The Iranians have a difficult decision: do they double down on this, risking the breakdown of their system, or do they step back.
[Editor’s Note: Commenter has misunderstood. It’s not the ethnicity of the protesters, but the location, which has disturbed the Iranian regime and escalated tension with Azerbaijan.
There are other reasons for the deterioration in relations, but Tehran’s blame of Azerbaijan for some connection with protests has contributed.]
You’ve made a mistake. The Azeri community in Iran have not participated in any significant way in the protests/unrest. East Azerbaijan has been quiet, except for an incident in Tabriz involving the killing of a Basiji member. When your refer to “West Azerbaijan”, you are referring to the Kurdish population of that province, not to the Azeris, who have taken to the streets of towns like Mahabad, Bukan and Sardasht. Just to recap: Kurds are spread across 4 provinces in Iran (mainly): Kurdistan, Ilam, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan.
reza, you have to fill your day by some kosesher (bullshit)…..these are all different dates and events
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202210207496
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-protests-hijab-tabriz/32044805.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/student-death-fuels-protests-among-iran-s-azerbaijani-turks/6844330.html
https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2023/01/iran-nationwide-street-protests-likely-to-continue-losing-momentum-into-late-january-amid-government-crackdown-executions-update-15
Israelis Are Now Openly Talking About the ‘Total Destruction’ of the Jewish State: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/israel-palestine-netanyahu-democracy-autocracy-1234696058/
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s push toward autocracy has triggered massive protests — and a sense that the end of the 75-year-old Israeli experiment may be near.”
Even before this crisis, Israel was a polarized society with complete political deadlock.