Recently Iran has seized a British ship in the strait of Hormuz. This was a tit-for-tat response to the UK seizing an Iranian ship off the cost of Syria. In addition, there have been accusations that Iran has unlawfully shot down US spy drones. Iran has claimed that the most recent downing was by the Americans themselves.
These steadily escalating tensions have given rise to fresh concerns that a war with Iran (and potentially a broader war with Russia and China, i.e., a World War) may be on the horizon. Much will depend on the US president. The hope is he will continue to act against the counsel of nearly all his advisers like he did when he decided to withdraw a military strike that would have left 150 Iranians dead. It was revealed that Fox News personality Tucker Carlson was the leading voice (perhaps the only voice) who managed to get the president to act in accordance with his better judgement.
The reality is Iran is not a threat to American interests and poses no serious national security risk to them. However, Iran is a threat to Israel. And being Shiites, they are a threat to Saudi Arabia, among other predominantly Sunni Arab emirates (kingdoms).
The fear for Israel is that if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon, the threat would be considered grave enough to jeopardize the existence of Israel, which exists as both a spiritual home and safe haven for Jews. At the risk of nuclear annihilation, the Israelis may be forced to abandon their project. For this reason, Israel and her advocates have pushed this narrative concerning an Iranian nuclear threat to extreme ends. There are those in Israel who seek regional hegemony over a fractured and weakened (balkanized) Muslim world.
The Saudis see Iran as threat due to Iran's Shiite Islamic fundamentalism. As a result, Saudi Arabia themselves have been pouring millions into support of Sunni Islamic fundamentalism to counter that influence. They too seek regional hegemony, but contrary to Israel they seek to unite the Muslim world.
The Americans, for their part, seek global hegemony. They want to cutoff Russia and China from Eurasia and thus maintain the US's status as the world's sole superpower. Britain, France and Germany all maintain a keen interest in supporting the US and piggy-backing them in the belief that one day they too may reassert themselves as great powers, likely using the EU as their vehicle to do so.
These steadily escalating tensions have given rise to fresh concerns that a war with Iran (and potentially a broader war with Russia and China, i.e., a World War) may be on the horizon. Much will depend on the US president. The hope is he will continue to act against the counsel of nearly all his advisers like he did when he decided to withdraw a military strike that would have left 150 Iranians dead. It was revealed that Fox News personality Tucker Carlson was the leading voice (perhaps the only voice) who managed to get the president to act in accordance with his better judgement.
The reality is Iran is not a threat to American interests and poses no serious national security risk to them. However, Iran is a threat to Israel. And being Shiites, they are a threat to Saudi Arabia, among other predominantly Sunni Arab emirates (kingdoms).
The fear for Israel is that if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon, the threat would be considered grave enough to jeopardize the existence of Israel, which exists as both a spiritual home and safe haven for Jews. At the risk of nuclear annihilation, the Israelis may be forced to abandon their project. For this reason, Israel and her advocates have pushed this narrative concerning an Iranian nuclear threat to extreme ends. There are those in Israel who seek regional hegemony over a fractured and weakened (balkanized) Muslim world.
The Saudis see Iran as threat due to Iran's Shiite Islamic fundamentalism. As a result, Saudi Arabia themselves have been pouring millions into support of Sunni Islamic fundamentalism to counter that influence. They too seek regional hegemony, but contrary to Israel they seek to unite the Muslim world.
The Americans, for their part, seek global hegemony. They want to cutoff Russia and China from Eurasia and thus maintain the US's status as the world's sole superpower. Britain, France and Germany all maintain a keen interest in supporting the US and piggy-backing them in the belief that one day they too may reassert themselves as great powers, likely using the EU as their vehicle to do so.
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