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Blue team: led by Israel, backed by the US and possibly the broader West. Netanyahu is said to be willing to escalate to a full-scale conflict, either because he sees this as an opportunity to end the continued existential threat to Israel, or because he wants to remain in power as long as he can to avoid prosecution, or both.
Red team: led by Iran, backed by Russia, China, Turkey, and possibly the broader South, for opportunistic reasons more than ideological ones. Pretends to be willing to escalate to a full-scale conflict but the alternative is to use its habitual proxies (Hezbollah, Shia militias, Houthis, etc) to avoid threatening the regime itself.
Back channel diplomacy is supposedly trying to deescalate both sides using a combination of threats and incentives. But a hot war also holds the prospect of a change of regime in Iran which appeals to some 1 reply
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