Does Iran want war? After latest Israel attack, here’s what may come next
Global News
Iran has said any response from Israel would be met with "stronger and more powerful" retaliation in kind, raising questions about where the tit-for-tat leads.
Iran’s direct attack on Israel this week has once again raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East — one that could now directly involve two of the region’s most well-armed nations.
Israel and the United States have warned of “consequences” for Iran after it fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. The barrage was mostly intercepted by Israel’s vast air defence system and U.S. naval destroyers.
It remains unclear what those consequences will be. But Iran has said any response from Israel would be met with “stronger and more powerful” retaliation in kind.
That raises further questions of where the tit-for-tat leads — and if Iran is prepared for what happens if its next strike on Israel actually gets through and hits an Israeli population centre.
“They should expect a very fierce response, not just from Israel but from the United States as well. And Iran knows that,” said Hagar Chemali, a counterterrorism expert and former White House National Security Council director for Lebanon and Syria.
Iran has long backed the various militant groups currently fighting with Israel: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and more recently the Houthis in Yemen, in addition to various other proxies in Syria and Iraq.
Many of those groups and others have been designated as terrorist organizations by Canada, the U.S. and other allies, as have Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. All are opposed to Israel’s existence in the Middle East.
Since Hamas’ deadly assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparked by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, Iran has been supporting proxy attacks — like Hezbollah’s cross-border missile strikes and the Houthis hitting ships in the Red Sea — that are in solidarity with Hamas, while avoiding taking direct action against Israel itself.
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