Hi everyone! Hope everyone is having a good start to the week.
I wanted to bring attention to an escalating conflict in the Middle Eastern region involving Israel, Iran, and Syria. While tension between Israel and Iran has existed for quite some time now, the recent incidents between the two countries may be bringing the conflict to a high boil. Essentially, an Iranian drone entered Israeli airspace and was shot down by an Israeli helicopter. Israel proceeded to launch an airstrike into Syria where the drone was dispatched by sending in eight F-16 planes. Syrian antiaircraft shot one of these F-16s down, but the pilot and navigator were able to escape unharmed through successful ejection.
The implications of this skirmish should not be understated. Iran has been building up its military forces and establishing strongholds in Syria for years now. While Israel has been doing its best to strike Iranian/Syrian targets in Syria in order to try to contain the ballooning presence of Iran, there had not been an Israeli airstrike on the scale seen last Friday. As Iran continues to build its presence in Syria (which borders Israel) in what seems to be an anticipation of future conflict with Israel, Israel seems to be ready to defend and retaliate if necessary.
Considering that it seems that escalation (potentially even war) between Iran and Israel has become a legitimate possibility, there are a couple of things to keep your eyes on moving forward. First, how will the US and other powers around the world react to the situation? While the US is an Israeli ally and has already condemned Iran's actions, it is unclear how far the Trump administration is willing to go in providing support for Israel. Russia is also very involved as they have forces currently stationed in Syria (with the goal of fighting ISIS) and Russia has also assisted Iran in aiding the Assad regime. While Russia has currently maintained neutrality, if the conflict were to escalate, Russia will have a hard time avoiding siding with either Israel or Iran.
It will really interesting to keep up on this situation in the Middle East, and some things I would like everyone to think about are if you were a country in the Middle Eastern region, how would you react to the Israel-Iran situation and how would you go about trying to de-escalate it? How would you mediate communication with external powers such as the US, Russia, and other countries? Put in the position of Israel or Iran, what would be your course of action?
These two articles are great reads if you want to learn more about the current Israel-Iran conflict:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iran-israel-war-flares-up-1518377530
https://nyti.ms/2BqVQLM
BMUN is only 3 weeks away! Don't forget to submit position papers! Stoked to meet all of you soon.
Andy
I wanted to bring attention to an escalating conflict in the Middle Eastern region involving Israel, Iran, and Syria. While tension between Israel and Iran has existed for quite some time now, the recent incidents between the two countries may be bringing the conflict to a high boil. Essentially, an Iranian drone entered Israeli airspace and was shot down by an Israeli helicopter. Israel proceeded to launch an airstrike into Syria where the drone was dispatched by sending in eight F-16 planes. Syrian antiaircraft shot one of these F-16s down, but the pilot and navigator were able to escape unharmed through successful ejection.
The implications of this skirmish should not be understated. Iran has been building up its military forces and establishing strongholds in Syria for years now. While Israel has been doing its best to strike Iranian/Syrian targets in Syria in order to try to contain the ballooning presence of Iran, there had not been an Israeli airstrike on the scale seen last Friday. As Iran continues to build its presence in Syria (which borders Israel) in what seems to be an anticipation of future conflict with Israel, Israel seems to be ready to defend and retaliate if necessary.
Considering that it seems that escalation (potentially even war) between Iran and Israel has become a legitimate possibility, there are a couple of things to keep your eyes on moving forward. First, how will the US and other powers around the world react to the situation? While the US is an Israeli ally and has already condemned Iran's actions, it is unclear how far the Trump administration is willing to go in providing support for Israel. Russia is also very involved as they have forces currently stationed in Syria (with the goal of fighting ISIS) and Russia has also assisted Iran in aiding the Assad regime. While Russia has currently maintained neutrality, if the conflict were to escalate, Russia will have a hard time avoiding siding with either Israel or Iran.
It will really interesting to keep up on this situation in the Middle East, and some things I would like everyone to think about are if you were a country in the Middle Eastern region, how would you react to the Israel-Iran situation and how would you go about trying to de-escalate it? How would you mediate communication with external powers such as the US, Russia, and other countries? Put in the position of Israel or Iran, what would be your course of action?
These two articles are great reads if you want to learn more about the current Israel-Iran conflict:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iran-israel-war-flares-up-1518377530
https://nyti.ms/2BqVQLM
BMUN is only 3 weeks away! Don't forget to submit position papers! Stoked to meet all of you soon.
Andy
The UAE believes that Russia does not play the role of a neutral power in the Israel-Iran conflict because they have clear intentions to assist Assad’s regime which has killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims. Additionally, they have teamed up with Iran, a nation known to support terror groups throughout the Middle East such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Especially when Iran supplies rockets to Hezbollah (ie. 2014) which in turn fires them into Israeli territory and provides attack helicopters to Assad's regime which has been known to massacre its own people it becomes impossible claim neutrality.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the Israel-Iran never-ending hatred is so deeply ingrained in the minds of both populations that it is extremely contentious to even mention Iran to a Jewish person in a casual political conversation. Public displays of hatred include statues of missiles pointed towards Israel in Tehran, chanting in the streets calling for "Death to Israel" and continual long range missile testing are among the most blatant expressions of an uncompromising ideology. But threats/ operations are not limited to Iran as Israel itself has successfully deployed a missile defense system known colloquially as the "Iron Dome" and completely ruined Iran's centrifuging capabilities through the Stuxnet virus, which have now been nearly restored.
With tensions as high as they are now, the UAE doesn't foresee any possible route to get both parties to negotiate, especially not with the US present. The UAE firmly believes that all diplomacy of regional significance should be conducted within the Middle Eastern locale because Israel is no longer a new nation on the globe and can/ should fight for its own ground at the negotiating table.
With new accusations aimed at Netanyahu as of late, the position of Israel potentially becomes more volatile and may result in a change in the balance of power in the Middle East if a conservative leader of equal or better standing does not replace him.
Delete-UAE