Iran May Refrain from Attacking Israel

While working toward a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, the Americans are putting Iran and its proxies under very heavy pressure not to attack Israel, because of the risk of escalation into a regional war.

They have made clear to Iran that the United States would use force to defend Israel, as they did in April in conjunction with other allies.

Central Command stated on Thursday that F-22 stealth fighter jets had been moved to the Middle East in readiness to help defend against any Iranian attack.

In parallel with such military moves, there have been intensive diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran not to attack. After all, it is only the Iranian regime’s pride that has been hurt by the killing of Ismail Haniyeh.

Some have described it as a ‘blitz of diplomatic efforts’ by the US and various allies in the region trying to persuade both Iran and Israel to reduce tensions and avoid a full-scale war.

And the Iranian regime does seem to be rethinking its reaction to Haniyeh’s death, because that appears to have been caused by a remote-controlled bomb, placed covertly in his guesthouse, rather than an aerial attack.

Another significant influence has come from a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday. The closing statement from that meeting said the OIC holds Israel fully responsible for the attack, which leaves the organisation facing a crisis that:

‘threatens to unravel decades of diplomatic efforts, through a deeper conflict.’

However, the statement stopped short of endorsing any military response by Iran against Israel.

This report by i24 News: