The Middle East has always been the focus of attention of the international community, and the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has aroused widespread concern. And at a time when people are worried about the situation between Palestine and Israel, Iran has ushered in a series of new changes, which have escalated tensions again. At this critical juncture, there are two new developments that deserve our attention. The first is Raisi's statement. On the 25th, the Iranian military confirmed that a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria was killed during an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital Damascus. The senior commander, Mousavi, serves as a senior military adviser in Syria and is one of the IRGC's oldest and most experienced advisers in Syria. He was a comrade-in-arms of the late Iranian general Soleimani, who died in a U.S. attack at the Iraqi capital airport on January 3, 2020.
This chain of events is undoubtedly a major blow to Iran, especially since another senior military officer was beheaded by Israel before Iran retaliated for the assassination of Soleimani. As a result, Raisi issued a warning, declaring that Israel would pay a heavy price. Iran*** also expressed its condolences and said that Mousavi's death, which had fought valiantly for years to ensure the security of Iran and the region, would leave Israel facing a "difficult countdown". The series of statements shows Iran's anger at the attack. In addition, as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to escalate, Iran has repeatedly criticized Israel, leading to growing tensions between the two sides. If the situation deteriorates further, the possibility of Iran directly using force against Israel, or even getting involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, cannot be ignored. This makes the situation even more complex and severe.
Therefore, changes in the situation in the Middle East have always touched the nerves of the international community. Tensions between Iran and Israel will continue to be the focus of intense international attention, and there are fears that such tensions could bring greater instability to the entire Middle East region. The ongoing stalemate in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict has exacerbated tensions, and Israel is in a state of scarcity. Under these circumstances, Israel's actions to raid Syria and "behead" senior Iranian military officers seem to be adding new adversaries and pressure to itself, which is unreasonable. However, perhaps it is precisely because of the continued stalemate in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that Israel is facing tremendous international and political pressure, so it needs to divert the attention of the outside world.
Recently, Israel has repeatedly signaled its "unwillingness to ceasefire", but international and ** pressure continues to rise, so in order to continue to gain support and continue military operations in Gaza, external pressure must be reduced. The death of an Iranian officer in an Israeli airstrike at such a critical moment is clearly not accidental. The resurgence of Iran-Israel confrontation could further complicate the situation. In addition, the United States has also launched a military operation at a critical moment. According to Iraqi security services, the U.S. military launched drone strikes in central Iraq's Babylon province, targeting three facilities of the Iraqi militia Allah Brigade and its affiliates, in retaliation for the group's strike on a U.S. military base in Iraq the day before, injuring at least 19 people. The United States considers the "Allah Brigade" to have close ties to Iran and has included it in the list of "extremist organizations."
Therefore, this late-night retaliation by the US military indirectly involves the Iranian issue and may lead to a resumption of war in Iraq. Since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria have reportedly suffered nearly 80 attacks, almost each of which have been claimed responsible by Iraqi militias. During this period, the U.S. military carried out a number of retaliatory airstrikes, often citing "targeting Iranian-related groups" or associating the target with Iran, in what appeared to be an attempt to shift the blame for frequent attacks on U.S. military bases onto Iran. Clearly, it is no simple coincidence that the recent US retaliation and Israel's assassination of an Iranian officer are so close in time, and both point the finger at Iran. It can be speculated that this may be part of the pressure exerted by the United States and Israel on Iran.
If Israel's targeting of Iran is aimed at diverting attention from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, then the purpose of the United States against Iran is clearly more complicated. On the one hand, the frequent pressure on Iran by the United States has exacerbated tensions in US-Iran relations, and at the same time provided an opportunity for Biden to pressure Iran and force it to make concessions and compromises at the negotiating table. After all, Biden promised from the beginning to get the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, but so far progress is not optimistic. This is obviously unacceptable for the White House, which urgently needs diplomatic achievements to boost approval ratings and help Biden participate in next year's **. On the other hand, the United States may try to undermine the current reconciliation process in the Middle East by putting pressure on Iran. Although the starting point of the rapprochement was between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the United States was not involved, which made Biden very unhappy and therefore deliberately took the opportunity to sabotage the process.
In addition, the United States may also want to assert its power by exerting pressure on Iran to further strengthen its influence and presence in the Middle East, thereby destabilizing the situation in the Middle East and pursuing its own interests. Although the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has not subsided, the Middle East is ushering in new changes, which bodes well for an ominous future. This volatile situation could create greater uncertainty for the entire region.