a day ago
How Israel's Iran strikes might open 'Pandora's box' for the region — and the U.S.
If Iran did decide to retaliate against American interests, that would likely mean some form of 'major creep' into Iraq or the Gulf, Geranmayeh, at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told NBC News. And that's less likely, according to her and other analysts, because of the rapprochement between Tehran and previous foes such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar in recent years.
Despite Israel's overwhelming military superiority, Netanyahu could be in a tricky spot, as he does not have the capabilities to eliminate Iran's nuclear facilities alone, according to Dina Esfandiary, the Middle East geoeconomics lead for Bloomberg Economics, Bloomberg's internal research division.
With its U.S.-funded armed forces, Israel 'can do considerable damage' she said. 'But it can't be successful' in its stated objective of 'crippling Iran's nuclear program' without 'the U.S. coming on board,' Esfandiary said.
Principally, it doesn't have the means to target the deeply buried underground facilities of Iran's nuclear program, experts say.
In short, as Rouzbeh Parsi, director of the Middle East program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, put it on X: 'Israel has always been capable of starting this war. But it has been equally clear that it cannot finish it on its own.'
