The war is not in the interests of either Israel or Iran – Aram Shahnazaryan

Everyone is waiting for Iran to strike back, Aram Shahnazaryan, the editor-in-chief of the “Alik” daily newspaper, told Alpha News, touching upon the second wave of tension in Iranian-Israeli relations.

“At the moment, Iranian society, including the Armenian community of Iran, as a small part of Iranian society, lives its normal life. There is no panic, anxiety, or crisis in society. However, it is obvious that everyone is waiting, everyone is interested in what will happen, what kind, and how strong Iran’s possible retaliatory strike will be.

I closely follow the posts of Iranian users on social media, especially on X. One of them wrote that when Israel struck their diplomatic facility in Damascus, they responded to Tel Aviv with Operation True Promise. Now that the strike took place in their home and one of Iran’s close friends was killed, what will their response be? This means that the people are anticipating,” Aram Shahnazaryan said.

According to him, the war does not meet the interests of either Israel or Iran.

“It is obvious that when the Supreme Spiritual Leader of the country declares that they will take revenge and Israel will answer for its actions, and the punishment will be inevitable and severe, this means that Iran’s military-political leadership must necessarily take some steps. However, what will this step be, given the tense situation in the region, Israel is involved in a war in Gaza, which has no end, is in a very serious confrontation in the north with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, and every second there is a risk of opening a new front. Now Iran is in a transitional stage; it has a new president, the government has yet to be formed, and Iran needs so-called calm, stable conditions, while Israel does not need a third front. There is the Gaza Strip; de facto, there is Lebanon, and now it would be pointless to open a third and much more powerful front,” our interlocutor noted.

Shahnazaryan is confident that if a war starts between these two states, the South Caucasus will also be affected.

“I believe Iran’s response will be similar to its previous actions. Perhaps it will be a little more powerful than Operation True Promise, but I do not think that both countries will want to enter into a war. It is absolutely not beneficial to anyone. I think that the response will be precisely within the framework of the True Promise.

Perhaps the scale will be more powerful, but I do not predict a confrontation between the two countries since this absolutely does not meet the direct interests of either Iran or Israel. Such a serious military clash would be catastrophic for both countries and for the region as a whole,” Aram Shahnazaryan noted.

He also noted that in his statement, the newly elected Iranian president made it clear that Israel would be held accountable.

“In this specific case, newly elected President Pezeshkian will act within the limits of the country’s overall tactics and strategy, within the framework of the statement made by the country’s supreme spiritual leader. He has already written on X and clearly stated that Iran will make Israel regret the murder of Ismail Haniyeh. This means that the operation against Israel is entirely predictable.

During his inauguration ceremony, Pezeshkian said that there would be some attempt to normalize relations with the West. He said that it is in the interests of everyone, including Iran and the West, for the parties to find solutions to global problems and issues with the help of Iran. There will be an attempt to normalize relations with the West to a certain extent. Time will tell how all this will turn out,” Aram Shahnazaryan concluded.