Likelihood of US and Israeli strike on Iran is quite high – Irina Fedorova

Irina Fedorova, a senior researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the situation surrounding Iran in an interview with Alpha News. According to the expert, the likelihood of a strike on Iran is quite high, but its purpose is more likely to be pressure than regime change.

“I believe only Washington and Tel Aviv know Israel and the United States’ plans. But based on current events, we can assume the likelihood of a strike is quite high, because we all know: if a gun is hanging on the wall, sooner or later it will go off. Whether this will help change the Iranian regime is an open question. I think that strikes are likely intended for this purpose, since any strikes by external forces could lead to Iran uniting around the current government,” the expert noted.

According to Fedorova, the concentration of US forces in the region can be seen as an attempt to put pressure on Iran.

“On the other hand, I believe this buildup of forces, including American troops, can be seen as a way to push Iran during negotiations—to persuade it to make concessions in line with US demands and ultimatums. Specifically, these include halting uranium enrichment, removing enriched uranium from the country, reducing its missile arsenal while retaining missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, and, of course, ending Iran’s full support for its proxies across the Middle East,” Fedorova said.