A military attack by the United States of America on Iran will directly harm Israel, a report says amid rising tensions between America and Iran over the latter’s nuclear enrichment programmes.
The report published by Chatham House, a London-based foreign policy think-tank, says that Israel will have to face ‘dire and far-reaching consequences’ if Iran is attacked. The report also warns of a rise in Islamic extremism in the Muslim world.
It is not anything new for Iran to whip up anti-Israel sentiments among fundamentalist groups. It is known that the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon is almost fully funded and armed by Iran.
It is believed that preparations by the US are already under way to launch an attack on the nuclear installations inside Iran. In the meanwhile, Israel has said that if the international community failed to prevent Iran making the bomb it will have to do it itself, causing concerns that Israel may target Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The UN Security Council has called on Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which will produce fuel for nuclear weapons, in return for talks. But Iran says that its intentions are peaceful, and has defied a deadline which passed last month. As a result, Iran is now exposed to fresh sanctions by the UN.
On the other hand, ‘a preemptive attack by Israel on Iran would hurt Israel’s long-term interests. It would be detrimental to Israel’s overall security and the political and economic consequences would be dire and far-reaching’, Yossi Merkel, the author of the report who is also an Israeli living in Britain, warns.
