Middle East crisis accelerates on multiple fronts
A feeble Biden seems incapable of swaying his allies or enemies towards de-escalation.
Thousands of Iranians gathered in the expansive square of Tehran’s Grand Mosalla Mosque this morning to heed Ayatollah Khamenei’s urgent call for Islamic unity against Israel as the flames of war sweep across the Middle East, writes Josh Schlicht.
Unlike the zoom call provided by his Lebanese counterpart, Hassan Nasrallah, days before his assassination, Khamanei’s lengthy public address signalled confidence and assurance – a calculated gamble considering Israel’s remarkably effective intelligence operations of late.
In his speech, the Ayatollah declared Tuesday evening’s strikes against Tel Aviv and Israeli air bases were the “minimum punishment” for Nasrallah’s killing and vowed further attacks if necessary.
As Khamenei riled up his supporters in Tehran, his Hezbollah allies in Beirut are living on borrowed time.
Major airstrikes ripped through the city’s suburbs late last night and early this morning as the IDF reportedly targeted Nasrallah’s cousin and potential successor, Hashem Saffiedine. Clips online depict the devastating extent of the strike – one of the largest yet – and whether or not Saffiedine survived remains unclear. A concurrent precision bombing was confirmed to have killed Hezbollah’s communications commander.
The decapitating blows to Hezbollah's leadership did not deter Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, from visiting Beirut today to announce his nation’s support for Hezbollah and an immediate ceasefire, so long as it extends to Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Israel has yet to respond to the hypothetical proposal, instead boasting that they have successfully eliminated over 250 Hezbollah fighters in the last few days.
Nationwide bombardments and Israel’s probing ground incursion have displaced a million Lebanese people so far according to the UN, with hundreds of thousands crossing into Syria, of all places, for refuge.
This morning, one of the main border crossings used by fleeing refugees was hit by a particularly large airstrike, leaving impassable craters in a road Israel claims was used to smuggle weapons. Other Israeli air attacks in the West Bank and Gaza have left dozens dead in the last 24 hours as fighting accelerates on all fronts.
The expansive scope of the conflict was further displayed by the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and the wounding of over a dozen others this morning after a drone launched from hundreds of miles away in Iraq hit a base in Northern Israel.
Meanwhile in Israel’s south, Houthi drones and missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome as the US announced aerial operations targeting Yemen. Earlier this week, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a crippling attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea.
The Houthis' successful shipping strikes weren’t the only developments shaking energy markets this week, as Biden’s offhand comment yesterday – suggesting he would be in favour of Israeli strikes on Iranian oil sites – sent the global price of crude up by 5 per cent.
Biden’s errant comments have not only unsettled international energy markets, but also appear to have compromised the viability of such an operation as reports indicate Iranian tankers have reactively fled into international waters.
Throughout the recent escalations, the American President has been noticeably ineffectual. Weeks ago, Biden was touting an imminent Gaza ceasefire which has not come to pass. His pleas to prevent Israeli escalations in Lebanon with a 21-day ceasefire fell on deaf ears, and his warnings to Iran have been scoffed at by an obstinate Ayatollah.
Meanwhile, the President’s planned diplomatic masterclass, which sought to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for a US defence pact, has fallen apart. Instead, Riyadh has turned to detente with Tehran announcing a “permanent end” to the rift between the two in a major snub to the Biden Administration.
A feeble and disoriented Biden – whose flagrant mental decline pushed him out of the race – seems incapable of wielding American might to sway his allies or enemies towards de-escalation as the Middle East hurtles toward an unprecedented, deadly conflict spanning several nations.
Josh Schlicht
Reaction Reporter
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1. David Rieff in Compact on Europe’s Hard-Power turn.
2. A brief history of the Chagos Islands (and why they still matter). Jack Blackburn in The Times.
3. North Korean shells fuel Russia’s war—and Kim’s ambitions, writes Keith Johnson in Foreign Policy.
4. California’s failed AI safety bill is a warning to Britain, writes Vincent Manancourt in POLITICO.
5. The US election could all depend on Arizona, writes Rachel Monroe in the New York Times.