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A series of recent airstrikes between Israel and Iran inflamed fears of a wider regional war erupting in the Middle East. That concern now seems to have paid off, after third-party countries around the world successfully intervened and talked down military hardliners in both Israel and Iran in order to avoid such an outcome. Israel’s latest strike on Iran intentionally did very little damage, providing Iran with the option not to retaliate at all, which Iran seems to be taking.
Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan concludes that both parties, at least for now, appear to be successfully de-escalating this conflict. Zeihan also argues that this whole debacle reveals that no Middle Eastern nation actually wants to see a major regional war unfold—but warns that other malign actors, like Russia, might still wish for that to happen.
Below is an excerpt from Peter’s April 23 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
Tensions between Israel and Iran have been escalating since the Hamas attacks in October, but are we going to see a full blown war between these two adversaries?
Between multiple bombings by Israel and a larger scale attack carried out by Iran, things were touch and go for a bit there. However, it appears that both sides are de-escalating the situation and will let off the gas for the time being.
Although the situation appears to be stabilizing, there could be some third party interference by a country who wouldn’t mind having a broader conflict break out…
