Tensions in the Middle East have waxed and waned over the last few months. They reached a particularly dangerous point in October when Israel and Iran were in a attack-counter-attack cycle. For a long time, Iran’s nuclear programme has been a point of contention between the two states.
Various Israeli officials have said over the years they would rather try to eradicate Iran’s nuclear programme through military means than let Iran acquire nuclear weapons. Israel maintains that a nuclear-armed Iran would be too dangerous for its own security and for the region. While Israeli concerns about Iranian nuclear weapons are justified, US intelligence estimates do not believe that Iran has made the political decision yet to build a nuclear weapon.
Why Israel should be wary of a strike on Iran’s nuclear programme
Tel Aviv may have the upper hand over Tehran, but Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor stands as a warning about the risks of miscalculation, writes Marion Messmer.
