By Ibrahim Habu Suleiman

The war between Iran and Israel has revealed a lot of hitherto concealed facts about Israel’s invincible air defence system – the Iron Dome. Although Israel still muzzled victory through superior air power, Iran was able to penetrate the hitherto invincible Iron Dome. Neither Iran nor Israel ever denies the fact that they are sworn enemies. Israel accuses Iran of being the chief sponsor of terrorists and terrorism in the Middle East and beyond, while Iran views Israel as an aggressor – the “cancerous tumour” bent upon imposing its hegemony over the entire region.
The war, which began on June 13, was apparently triggered by Israel’s unprovoked air attacks in an operation code-named “Rising Lion” targeting Iran’s storage and missile launch infrastructure sites, as well as the country’s top scientists and military commanders. Iran’s revolutionary command, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, IRGC, headed by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a response with unprecedented hypersonic ballistic missiles equally targeting Israeli military installations as well as oil and gas refineries with precision.
Initial casualties showed that Iran lost a good number of their top commanders and scientists but also many more civilians were killed. Nevertheless, the impression hitherto that Israel would just have a safe ride was doused by Iran’s immediate response which showed no respect for the hyped mysterious Iron Dome. Fierce hypersonic ballistic missiles hit parts of central Israel causing sweeping losses of lives and wrecking harvoc on government and civilian structures. However, although the losses were by far not a fifty-fifty affair the fact that Iran pierced Israel’s mystical Iron Dome proved that the country can no more be taken for granted.
Of course, the United States is a well-known, long-standing ally of Israel. Indeed the US has always supported Israel going through thick and thin in almost all its affairs, particularly in Israel’s battles for hegemony in the Middle East. Their common grouse against Iran is the country’s support for terrorism and terrorist organisations including the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, Palestine. This has led to several unprovoked attacks on Iran by Israel alongside the US and their allies.
And today the US being the only standing world power with the most superior military arsenal, especially since the collapse of the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, Israel has continued to reign supreme in the Middle East. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, for instance, are being massacred -hundreds daily – by Israel with the support of the US and their Western allies. As usual all resolutions passed against the Jewish state at the United Nations are flouted by the US and their allies.
Israel’s strikes on Iran’s storage and missile launch infrastructures targeted underground sites used for storing and launching surface-to-surface and cruise missiles. The US intervened when President Trump ordered well-articulated strikes with the most advanced aircrafts and “bunker busters” targeting three nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The strikes significantly destroyed the targeted sites. Initial response by Iran involved strikes of US military facilities in Qatar.
So far US President Trump has described the bombardments carried out by the American strikes as successful, maintaining that the Iranian nuclear sites have been “totally obliterated”. However there have been contradictory reports as to the extents of the damages on the nuclear sites. UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA has acknowledged the severity of the damages done to the nuclear sites, cautioning, however, that Iran still has the capacity to develop nuclear weapons in the nearest future. Similarly, reports suggest there has been no radiation detected in the area to validate claims of any uranium or nuclear power pollution.
Iran, on the other hand, has accepted the assertions of the immense damages done to the three sites, but reiterated the country’s determination to forge ahead with their nuclear power production. In fact, the country has totally severed further links with UN nuclear watchdog. This means that both Israel and US, with their entire Western allies, will no more have the pleasure of monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme.
The cease-fire ordered by the US president following his assertions of a complete victory over Iran is currently in place. Both Israel and Iran have a chance to further assess the damages sustained in the war. However, there can be no peaceful coexistence between the two foes so long as the root causes of their animosity remain unattended to. The question of Palestinian self-determination, which Israel has long decided to put under the carpet with the backing of the Jewish state’s Western allies, will continue to feature as their greatest undoing. Since October 7, 2023 when Hamas, the Islamist Resistance Movement with its military wing, Qassam Brigade, bombed Israeli targets killing about three thousand Israelis, the Jewish state responded hitting hard on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Iran remains the key supporter of the group(s) fighting for independence, providing them with funds and training, while Israel has continued to militate against the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Unfortunately Israel’s Western allies regard any attempt to create an independent Palestinian state as a threat, whereas the Israel was carved out of Palestine themselves with the assistance of the UN.
It is therefore difficult to imagine peaceful coexistence between Israel and the Palestinian organisations, whose main prop has been Iran. So long as the US and its allies continue to support Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the animosity between Israel and Iran (under whatever leadership) will also never come to an end. The cease-fire in the Iran – Israel war is only for both sides to re-strategise and come up with new ways of attacks.
Already, the US president has indicated readiness to organise a more sustained military operation geared towards regime change. History should have taught Trump and his advisers the terrible consequences of regime change. In 2001 when US troops on a mission designated as “War on Terror” landed in Afghanistan to flush out the Taliban regime harbouring those responsible for the bombing of the twin towers, namely al-Qa’eda led by Osama bin Laden, the Americans took a long time in that country. But after 20 years of hard grueling war with hundreds of losses they were finally compelled to leave and the Taliban quickly rallied and took over the reigns of power again in that country. Similarly in 2003 President George W. Bush ordered regime change to oust the then president Saddam Hussein of Iraq allegedly for harbouring weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was captured and later killed. But, afterwards no weapons of mass destruction were found in the country. The ultimately results included a civil war, chaos and the resultant collapse of the world economy towards a terrible recession that shook the world.
President Trump has taken over from Israel the onus of silencing the Islamic Republic under the IRGC Shiite leadership and has since threatened to eliminate the country’s supreme leader Ali khameini. Of course, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, IRGC under the leadership of Ali Khameini is not likely going to abandon their support for self-determination by the Palestinian groups (referred to as “terrorist groups”) and eventual independence from Israel, especially now the Israeli Iron Dome has been demystified. Nor is the progressive world going to abandon the peaceful struggles against continued Israeli illegal occupation of Palestine.
The world is now better informed who the aggressors are in the Middle East crises. ISRAELIS. More countries and groups will emerge in support of the Palestinian self determination struggles against the Jewish state. Iran has demonstrated that there are still countries that can challenge the hegemony of the Jewish state.