Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
By Azer Ahmadbayli – Trend:
It seems that US President Trump’s policy against Iran is not having an effect he was hoping for.
Tehran continues to fight fire with fire and does so efficiently. None of Iran's “malicious activities” listed in the broader US strategy has undergone any changes. Iran continues to influence situation in Iraq and Syria.
The European leaders keep supporting safety of the nuclear deal, making timid attempts to voice concerns on Iran’s ballistic missile program and come to any kind of compromise, which, on the contrary, excites Tehran’s tough reaction.
“Europe has no right to meddle in our defense affairs,” Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani said yesterday. He warned that if Europeans want to follow the US and interfere in Iran’s defense affairs, then Iran will stand against them as they are doing against the US.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic is actively working on its economic issues by sending and receiving trade delegations, organizing trade exhibitions, and building new economic ties with neighbors in the region and beyond. It is also a sign that White House isolation attempts stall.
Meanwhile, Iran’s intransigence, especially its military presence in Syria, can cause a sudden and unpredictable reaction of Israel, which has repeatedly shown that when it comes to the vital interests of the Jewish State, Tel Aviv never stops.
Recent meetings of Israeli defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman with his Russian and American counterparts show that Israel is utterly concerned of the region’s current developments and will not put up with Iranian presence close to its frontiers.
Speaking in Washington with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and with National Security Advisor General Herbert McMaster, Lieberman said that "any attack on Israel's sovereignty will meet a determined response," and "we will not tolerate a situation in which Iran and its satellites will sit along our borders and we will defend our interests in every way we see fit and according to our red lines."
The same was discussed in details within a short visit of Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu to Israel. Allegedly, Russians took charge to hold away pro-Iranian forces from dangerous vicinity to Israeli borders.
Stakes are rising up every day of the week. The visiting spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, praised the bilateral relations between the movement and Iran, saying that Hamas delegation’s trip to the Islamic Republic was a “practical response” to the Israeli regime’s anger over Hamas-Tehran ties.
So far, the sides were managing not to cross red lines, but perhaps, we are closer to the onset of war than we believe.