Has Israel-Hezbollah missile fire averted a wider conflict? Top US general thinks so...
Aug. 27, 2024, 6:19 a.m.
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The highest-ranking US military officer has stated that the immediate threat of a full-scale war in the Middle East has lessened - for the time being.
During a three-day trip to the Middle East, Air Force General CQ Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters that two key events were anticipated in the region. He stated that one of these events has already taken place, which has diminished the immediate risk of a regional war.
Advertisement Brown's comments came following the most significant exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah on Sunday. Israel deployed approximately 100 warplanes to strike around 40 Hezbollah sites, while the terrorist group responded with hundreds of rockets fired at Israel.
Brown said, “You had two things you knew were going to happen. One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out…How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not.”
Brown was referring to the declarations by Hezbollah and Iran to seek revenge for the assassinations of Faud Shukr and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh respectively. Both Shukr and Haniyeh were killed within hours of each other on July 30. While Shukr was killed in an airstrike in Beirut, Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran.
The Iran’s vow of revenge has led to fears that any attack and subsequent Israeli response could lead to an escalatory spiral that could plunge the Middle East into an all-out war.
Does Iran want war?
Even as Iran has vowed to avenge Haniyeh’s assassination and there have been reports that preparations for an attack have been made, Brown said it does not appear that Iran wants a broader war.
“They want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think … don’t want to do something that’s going to create a broader conflict,” said Brown to Reuters.
Calling Yemen-based Houthis as a “wild card”, Brown also said that, in addition to Iran and Hezbollah, other militant allies in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Yemen, also pose a risk.
Advertisement As for the preparations against any attack, Brown said “we are better postured” after US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin ordered the maintenance of two aircraft carrier groups in the Middle East and deployed another squadron of F-22 warplanes.
“We try to improve upon what we did in April,” said Brown further, referring to the collective defence of Israel against the Iranian attack.
In April, Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel using hundreds of missiles, drones, and rockets. Israel received support from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in repelling the Iranian attack. Following the escalation of current tensions, the United States has sought to revive the coalition for a similar defensive operation in the event of an Iranian attack.
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