Iran is furious after the mysterious death of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital Tehran. Iran had vowed to take revenge from Israel. Iran blames Israel for the murder of the Hamas chief. However, now it seems that the fire of revenge burning inside Iran has started to cool down. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said that Iran’s retaliatory action against Israel may take a long time. What is the reason behind the cooling down of Khamenei’s country’s attitude?
According to a report published in Arab News, Naini said, “Time is on our side and the waiting period for this response may be long.” However, he indicated that Iran’s response against Israel will be well thought out. This means that Iran is not in the mood to attack Israel in recent times. The reason behind Iran’s changed attitude is said to be US pressure. After Haniyeh’s death and Iran’s threat, sensing the growing regional dangers in the Middle East, America had issued a warning recently. America said that if Iran attacks Israel, it can have serious consequences.
Did America’s warning have any effect?
A senior US official gave a clear warning, “If Iran attacks Israel, it can have serious and dire consequences, which can also threaten the prospects of peace talks in the Gaza conflict.” The official said that the US advises Iran not to move in this direction, because this can have particularly difficult consequences for Iran.
US President Joe Biden also gave positive signals in the context of the Gaza war last Friday. He said that after 10 months of long fighting, the possibility of a ceasefire is now closer than ever. US mediators have presented a proposal during two days of talks in Qatar, which could be an important step towards reducing differences between the two sides. The official said that Hezbollah has already opened a front against Israel after the October 7 incident. Now if Iran does something like this at this time, the possibility of ceasefire and release of hostages will be in danger.
Israel also showed tough attitude towards Iran
Iran had issued a stern warning to Israel after the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz held a crucial meeting with his counterparts from Britain and France last Friday in which he tried to ensure that if Iran attacks Israel, Britain and France will strike inside Iran. US officials reacted to this by saying that the US, Britain and France are prepared for all possible scenarios and will take the necessary steps to defend Israel against any attack by Iran.
It is only after this stance of America and Israel that Iran has postponed the plan of immediate attack on Israel. However, Naini says that Iran supports any step to end the war in Gaza and help its people. But at the same time, he also said that Iran is not afraid of American actions and it also considers America as a party to the Gaza war. Now it will be interesting to see what the way forward is in this situation.