Iran’s Supreme Leader will respond to Israel very carefully so as not to worsen the situation inside his country, expert says

August 01 2024, 10:20

Opinion | Politics

Speaking with Alpha News, Irina Fedorova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh as a result of an attack in Iran.

According to the expert, Iran assesses the situation quite soberly and understands that an escalation of actions will lead to an unpredictable development of events in the Middle East, including the use of weapons of mass destruction by Israel.

“At the moment, Iran is thinking about how to respond. When the Iranian Consulate General in Syria was attacked and senior officials of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria were killed in Damascus, Iran responded. It responded by striking at Israeli territory, having warned in advance through third countries that there would be a strike. In this way, the number of victims was reduced to almost a minimum at that time.

That is, Iran responded that time with a direct strike on the territory of Israel, but very limited, taking precautions so as not to worsen the situation or lead to an escalation of war throughout the Near and Middle East, because this threatens a regional war, and may even involve countries outside the region. I hope that Iran will show restraint and give a response that will be limited and will not lead to any mass casualties. Because Iran is quite sober in assessing the situation. It understands that the escalation of actions will lead to an unpredictable development of events in the Near and Middle East, including the use of weapons of mass destruction by Israel,” Fedorova said.

According to the expert, Haniyeh’s death was an act of terrorism.

“Let’s wait and see how Iran’s restraint will justify itself. Plus, we must understand that the situation in Iran is far from simple; there is a confrontation between reformers, supporters of liberals, and supporters of conservatives within the country. This was very clearly demonstrated during the presidential election. The Supreme Leader of Iran will decide this very carefully, so as not to allow the internal situation in Iran to worsen when responding to Israel.

Of course, this is lawlessness. I think that everyone evaluates this as lawlessness. A country that undertakes such terrorist actions is a terrorist. This is a violation of all international norms that still exist,” Fedorova concluded.