Cartooning for Peace: Israel and US play a dangerous game of ‘nuclear roulette' with Iran war
The war between Iran and Israel lasted twelve days, creating an imbalance of power in the Middle East.
Following offensives against Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – the so-called 'axis of resistance' – Israel opened a new front against Iran and its nuclear programme on June 12, asserting regional hegemony.
The daily reciprocal strikes that followed left 1,054 dead in Iran, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, and 28 dead in Israel, according to officials there.
US President Donald Trump chose military intervention on Sunday, when 125 aircraft, including seven B-2 stealth bombers, carried out a surprise attack on three Iranian nuclear sites.
In response, Iran targeted a military base in Qatar, raising fears of a global conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump finally announced a ceasefire, which was violated by strikes from both Israel and Iran until the end of the day.
Each side is claiming victory: Israel and the United States congratulate themselves on having slowed Iran's nuclear program me for decades (which remains to be proven), while Tehran is glorifying its victory over 'Israel's weakness'.
The Iranian regime, although greatly weakened, seems to be holding firm for the time being.
Iranian society, for its part, fears increased repression.
In this illustration, Brazilian cartoonist Thiago Lucas portrays US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu playing a risky game of 'nuclear roulette'.
The two leaders launch missiles in the "hope" of hitting Iran's nuclear sites but, as in any game of chance, the outcome remains uncertain.
Cartooning for Peace is an international network of cartoonists committed to promoting freedom of expression, human rights and mutual respect between people of different cultures and beliefs through the universality of press cartoons.
Lucas was born in 1987 in Recife, the state capital of Pernambuco in the northeast of Brazil. He is a graduate historian from the Federal University of Pernambuco and has a postgraduate degree in the History of Brazil's Northeast from the Catholic University of Pernambuco.
During his studies he developed research on caricature as a form of critical discourse on the 'drought industry' in his native country's northeast.
His interest in cartooning started at the age of 14, when he began to follow the drawings published in the newspapers of Pernambuco. Since then, he has published in numerous venues, including magazines, websites, newspapers and textbooks, in addition to having participated in several exhibitions and graphic arts catalogues worldwide.
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