By Spyros A. Sofos, Simon Fraser University (The Conversation) – Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian territory have been widely framed as an act of deterrence or yet another episode in a protracted regional rivalry. Such interpretations overlook the deeper motivations behind Israel’s actions. As a global humanities scholar who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, I […]
Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
By Sahar Maranlou, Royal Holloway University of London (The Conversation) – Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1939, as the second son of a local religious leader, Javad Khamenei, and he grew up in relative poverty. He learned to read the Qur’an in early childhood before attending a theological seminary school in Mashhad. […]
US joins Israel in Attack on Iran, ushering in a New Era of Impunity
By Simon Mabon, Lancaster University (The Conversation) – When US B-2 bombers hit Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Donald Trump declared the strikes a success and urged the Islamic Republic to make peace or face even more devastating strikes. The US president proclaimed the might of the US military, operating in full […]
Trump’s contravention of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal Led to Israel-Iran Escalation
By Christian Emery, UCL (The Conversation) – The US president, Donald Trump, is weighing up whether to join Israel in attacking Iran. The fact he is even contemplating such a move is, in my opinion, a direct consequence of his 2018 decision to tear up the agreement negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency that limited Iran’s […]
Israel’s Attacks have Exposed Iran’s Weaknesses, but it is in Little Danger of Collapsing
By Farhang Morady, University of Westminster The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that his country’s campaign in Iran “could certainly” lead to regime change. In an interview with Fox News on June 15, he called the government in Tehran “very weak” and added that, given the opportunity, “80% of the [Iranian] people would […]
Israel-Iran War: History shows you cannot assassinate your way to Peace
By Matt Fitzpatrick, Flinders University (The Conversation) – In the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat. The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition […]
Recycling Solar Panels will Reduce Waste, but We Should Repair and Reuse First
By Deepika Mathur, Charles Darwin University and Robin Gregory, Charles Darwin University (The Conversation) – Australia’s rooftop solar industry has renewed calls for a mandatory recycling scheme to deal with the growing problem of solar panel waste. Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled. The rest are stockpiled, sent overseas or dumped in landfill. […]
Why did Israel defy Trump – and risk a major War – by striking Iran now? And what happens next?
By Amin Saikal, Victoria University (The Conversation) – Alarmed by an intelligence assessment that Iran will be able to produce nuclear weapons within months if not weeks, Israel has launched a massive air campaign aiming to destroy the country’s nuclear program. Israel’s air strikes hit Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, as well as […]
Sanctioning extremist Israeli Ministers is a Start, but More must be Done
By Jessica Whyte, UNSW Sydney and Sara Dehm, University of Technology Sydney (The Conversation) – The Australian government is imposing financial and travel sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers: Itamar Ben-Gvir (the national security minister) and Bezalel Smotrich (finance minister). This is a significant development. While Australia has previously sanctioned seven individual Israeli settlers, Ben-Gvir […]
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