FARAAN: The publication Rai al-Youm, in an analysis of the behind-the-scenes motivations of a joint statement by five Western countries supporting Tel Aviv against Iran’s retaliatory attacks, discusses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to provoke a third world war.
In the editorial of the online publication Rai al-Youm, which is updated in London, written by the editor-in-chief Abdul Bari Atwan, the joint statement by the US, UK, France, Italy, and Germany, which demands or rather orders Iran to de-escalate and refrain from threats against Israel, is discussed. The editorial notes that this threat did not surprise anyone because it is clear that these countries, which form the core of NATO, have provided military and political cover for the crimes of the Israeli regime, encouraging it to continue the genocide in Gaza—a war that has so far resulted in 40,000 deaths and 100,000 injuries, many of them children. The dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a US nuclear submarine to join the USS Eisenhower in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the delivery of 14,000 heavy bombs to Israel, are seen as measures to instill fear and prepare for supporting any Israeli attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities in response to Tehran’s attacks.
According to the publication, the failed Netanyahu is seeking to start World War III by dragging the West into it. He views the Al-Aqsa storm, which has shattered the prestige of his regime and army, as akin to the Pearl Harbor attack and the September 11, 2001, events. As a result, he has provocatively and deliberately violated Iran’s sovereignty by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, pushing Iran towards a harsh and proportionate response in self-defense—a move that could lead to a regional or even global war with the West, led by the US, intervening under the pretext of defending the Israeli regime.
Netanyahu was the mastermind behind the US attack on Iraq, its occupation, and its subsequent collapse, preventing it from becoming a regional power, using the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Now, he intends to use the same scenario and pretexts against Iran. The joint statement by the five Western countries may indicate the success of his plan, which he promoted in the US Congress. Netanyahu was also the one who provoked Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran.
It is the height of audacity for the five Western countries to demand that Iran de-escalate and not defend its dignity and sovereignty, while not uttering a single word of reproach against Netanyahu, who sparked this crisis by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau in Tehran, and Fawad Shaker, a Hezbollah commander in Beirut’s southern suburbs. This audacity should not go unanswered; there must be a strong response to end this bullying, whatever the cost may be. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, showed utmost responsibility in responding to Western arrogance led by the US and the five-party statement, saying that Iran is determined to respond and defend its sovereignty and does not seek anyone’s permission to pursue its legitimate rights.
Iran’s stance on defending the country’s dignity and sovereignty against Israeli aggression, if translated into a strong practical response, deserves the support of the entire Arab and Islamic world because Iran is facing these American and Western threats due to its support for resistance against the occupiers. We must not forget that Haniyeh is the head of Hamas’ political bureau, whose Qassam Brigades, along with other Palestinian resistance groups, dealt the greatest defeat in the history of the occupying regime during the Al-Aqsa Storm operation. The occupying regime is seeking war and poses a real danger to regional security and stability by committing crimes against innocents, and the US, which supports this genocide in broad daylight, will be the biggest loser if Netanyahu’s plan to drag it into war succeeds.
