Iran-Israel conflict harms rest of the world too
IRAN and Israel are locked in a geopolitical contest, and the nuclear issue is one facet of that struggle.
Israel is unhappy with Iran's activities in Lebanon (Hizbollah), Syria, Iraq and Gaza (Hamas). Tel Aviv views them as threatening its security.
Iran is ideologically opposed to Zionism. It is funding and arming groups that confront Israel militarily.
Tel Aviv has a strategic interest in weakening Iran's economy, breaking its regional alliances and disrupting its ability to project power.
Since the US invaded Iraq in 2003, Israel has been determined to finish Iran off.
Tel Aviv is using Iran's nuclear programme as an excuse to attack it. The broader geopolitical goals are containment, destabilisation and preservation of strategic superiority.
The Israeli air attacks on Iran will complicate global issues like international trade. Incidentally, the offensive came after a Chinese freight train arrived in Teheran in May from Xian.
The new strategic land route is designed to transport oil and other goods from Iran to China, bypassing maritime chokepoints under US control.
The Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil supply passes through, may be closed to international navigation.
The Israeli attacks could indirectly undermine America's trade deals with China, which has been supplying missile and drone parts to Iran.
Russia, a top supplier of arms to Iran, is likely to join the fray and reassert itself following diplomatic lapses in Syria.
It is obvious to many that the nuclear issue in Teheran functions as a narrative tool for Israel.
While Iran's nuclear programme raises security concerns, it does not pose an immediate threat to Israel. Teheran has yet to build a bomb.
As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The NPT does not prohibit uranium enrichment for civilian purposes (like energy production or medical isotopes), as long as it's under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
Interestingly, the IAEA has in inspections verified Iran's compliance multiple times from 2015 to 2018.
When President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018, Iran renewed its uranium enrichment programme.
The IAEA recently found Iran in breach of its safeguards. Teheran denies this. The agency's report provided the impetus for the Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel's focus on Iran's nuclear capability serves Netanyahu's personal agenda and the wider goal of limiting Iranian influence in the region.
The future of the conflict is anybody's guess. But its continuation will be painful not only to the warring parties, but the rest of the world too.
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Malay Mail
24 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
G7 urges ceasefire in Middle East and Gaza, but still backs Israel's ‘right to defend itself' despite attacks on Iran
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New Straits Times
40 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
G7 expresses support for Israel, calls Iran source of instability
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Herald Malaysia
40 minutes ago
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo XIV calls for responsibility, dialogue to end escalating Israel-Iran violence
Pope Leo XIV renewed the Church's calls for nuclear disarmament and peaceful dialogue one day after Israel launched missile strikes on Iran. Jun 17, 2025 Smoke billows from an explosion in southwest Tehran on June 16, 2025. Iran's state broadcaster was briefly knocked off the air by an Israeli strike and explosions rang out across Tehran on June 16 after a barrage of Iranian missiles killed 11 people in Israel on the fourth day of an escalating air war. | Credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images By Kristina Millare Pope Leo XIV renewed the Church's calls for nuclear disarmament and peaceful dialogue one day after Israel launched missile strikes on Iran. The Holy Father spoke of his growing concerns for the Middle East on Saturday, shortly after delivering a catechesis to pilgrims attending the June 14–15 Jubilee of Sport. 'The situation in Iran and Israel has seriously deteriorated,' the pope told pilgrims inside St. Peter's Basilica. 'At such a delicate moment, I wish to strongly renew an appeal to responsibility and reason.' 'Our commitment to building a safer world free from the nuclear threat must be pursued through respectful encounters and sincere dialogue,' he insisted. Leo XIV said it is the 'duty of all countries' to initiate 'paths of reconciliation' and promote solutions — founded on justice, fraternity, and the common good — to build lasting peace and security in the region. 'No one should ever threaten another's existence,' he said. Open warfare between the two Middle East nations entered its fourth day on Monday after Israel launched the initial deadly attack on June 13, just hours after Iran announced plans to activate its third nuclear facility, the Associated Press reported. Both religious and political leaders have urged Israel and Iran to end the increasing military violence, impacting thousands of civilians, and enter into dialogue. Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, echoed Pope Leo's calls for peaceful solutions in the region. 'We urge the United States and the broader international community to exert every effort to renew a multilateral diplomatic engagement for the attainment of a durable peace between Israel and Iran,' Zaidan said on Monday. 'The further proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, as well as this escalation of violence, imperils the fragile stability remaining in the region,' he added. In May, the U.N. censured Iran for not complying with nonproliferation obligations after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned the nations had increased its nuclear stockpile in its latest report. António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said on X on Saturday: 'Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail.' The number of deaths, injuries, and the displaced in Iran and Iraq are expected to rise as both countries continue to launch ongoing missile strikes and retaliatory attacks.--CNA
