Trump's shock Iran strikes take us to brink of global conflict and will strengthen Axis of Evil alliance, experts warn

The Irish Sun

5 hours ago

TRUMP'S historic strikes against Iran could push the world to the brink of global conflict, experts have warned.
Wounded Iran has vowed to fight on, and at this very moment will be calling upon
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The Ayatollah has refused to back down even in the face of the US's decisive action
Credit: AFP
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Putin will be eager for Iran to disrupt the global oil industry
Credit: AP
While Israel has stamped out much of Iran's power in the Middle East, the regime retains formidable allies with equally
Experts believe Trump's
strikes
could force the axis of evil closer together, and set in motion a chain of events that embroils more countries in the conflict.
Philip Ingram, a global defence expert, told The Sun: 'Iranian ballistic missiles will not reach the
United States
and therefore to try and respond to the
United States
attack
Iran
's going to have to do something different.
"It'll bring its axis of evil. That means Iran,
Russia
, North Korea and
China
.
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"We are a couple of feet further up the escalation ladder towards a global conflict."
North Korea showed its willingness to get involved with other wars when Kim sent 12,000 troops over to fight on
Russia
's front line with
Ukraine
.
With Iran increasingly desperate, North Korea could step in and provide military aid such as "missile
technology
", Ingram said.
Russia
has been one of Iran's most vocal allies, and has warned all along that regime change would be "unacceptable".
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The Kremlin said the assassination of Iran's supreme leader would "open the Pandora's box".
Ingram said that 'Iran and Russia will join forces to try and cause as much disruption in different countries as possible."
Watch Trump hail 'very successful' bombing on Iran's nuke bases
Russia is well-versed in the dark arts, and has propagated a campaign of sabotage against the West, so would have plenty to teach Iran.
Forcing Iran and Russia closer together is not the only way US strikes could impact on Putin.
Ingram said: 'The escalating conflict helps Russia by moving Russia-Ukraine further down the agenda so that people aren't focusing on it.
'It also ties up international geopolitical organisations and politicians in a complex Middle East situation - so again they don't have the capacity to focus on what Russia's doing in
Ukraine
."
Chip Chapman said that the most immediate threat to western allies would be if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz - which could even see the UK dragged into the conflict.
He said: "20 percent of the world's
oil
runs through the strait. Closing it could have huge implications for the oil price.
'And that's where the Brits may get involved. If the Iranians were to try and close the Strait of Hormuz, there would be a definite ask from the Americans to the Brits."
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President Donald Trump ordered major strikes against Iranian nuclear targets
Credit: AP
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Iran struck back almost immediately with waves of missiles into Israel - causing serious damage in Tel Aviv
Credit: Getty
Russia would likely back Iran's decision to close the strait, because an increase in oil prices would help fund its activities, Ingram explained.
For many years Iran enjoyed considerable power in the Middle East through its proxies across the region.
Two of the key players were Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - but over the past 20 months
Israel
has seriously crippled them.
However, Ingram says the Houthis in Yemen still pose a threat to the world other.
He said: "I think we will see a massive uptake in Houthi activity in disrupting international shipping in the Red Sea."
Experts have also warned that the strikes could prove a "slippery slope" and commit the US to pursuing more extreme military goals in Iran - such as overthrowing the regime.
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Houthi supporters hold anti-US and Israel placards during a protest this week
Credit: EPA
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Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted following the US strikes
Credit: Reuters
Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst at the Johns Hopkins School, said: "Beware mission creep, aiming for regime change and democratization
campaigns
.
"You'll find the bones of many failed US moral missions buried in Middle East sands."
US-driven regime change would likely drive a wedge further between the West and the Islamic world - as was the case with Iraq - the experts suggest.
Ingram said: "If there Ayatollah was killed it could change the whole way the government is set up in Iran, like we had with the fall of the Shah.
"Then you whatever comes in
next
could be worse than what's in now and more polarised."
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The US strikes could also prove a spark to other flash points around the world - such as the China-Taiwan tensions.
Ingram said 'China will likely sit back and wait to see what's happening, to begin with.
"Xi Jinping might think the international community is so tied up in the Middle East, that he has a window of opportunity, and he might try and take Taiwan.
'The world is not just a more febrile place, but the potentials for a series of events to happen to take us into a global conflict have just become even more complex to try and analyse.
'We haven't moved away from conflict. We have moved away from a despot regime getting towns on nuclear weapons, but it's not made the world immediately safer.
'What happens over the coming days and weeks will let us understand as to whether we have moved back from the brink of a global conflict or move further forward.'