Pressures and strains have risen in the Middle East since the Iran-Israel war appeared in the Mideast. It followed months of clashes between Israel and Iran’s regional allies, triggered by the war in Gaza. Global trade will be in crisis if a new war occurs in the region.
If the war spreads in the Middle East, oil and gas prices will increase first, later on, taking sky-high all kinds of business costs, complain businesspersons and economists. They fear that the import and export of goods and potential foreign investment will unsettle due to this.
Israel has been conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip for more than six months. So far, deaths of 33,797 people including children and women have taken place in the attacks of the Israeli forces there destroying countless schools and hospitals.
In retaliation for Israel’s attack on Gaza, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea. As a result, avoiding the cheaper and timesaving route, most of the ships of the major shipping companies are now sailing around the African continent. It takes more time than before to transport goods.
Iran also launched a swarm of explosive drones and fired missiles in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, risking a major escalation. The attack was because of an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria on April 1.
The attack killed several military officers. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior commander of the Quds Force, which operated overseas activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was among those killed.
The Middle East is on the war’s edge. The people in the region are confronting the real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres told the meeting, which was called after Iran’s attack.
The war in the besieged territory and its soaring civilian toll have revived the push for a two-state solution, with the UN Security Council preparing to vote today on full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state, according to diplomatic sources.
The United States, meanwhile has announced that it was preparing new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone program after its weekend attack on Israel, and the EU’s foreign policy chief signaled the bloc would levy new punitive measures as well.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran would not get off scot-free after Tehran and its allies launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles, drones, and rockets at Israel.
We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression, Hagari said, a day after Israel’s military chief vowed there would be a response to Iran’s attack.
Iran has characterized the barrage as an act of self-defense following a deadly air strike on its consulate in Syria, saying that it would consider the matter concluded unless Israel retaliated.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned that the slightest action against Iran’s interests would see a severe, extensive, and painful response.
US President Joe Biden has stressed that the United States is committed to Israel’s security but wants to prevent the conflict from spreading.
Washington, Israel’s top ally and arms supplier has made clear it will not join Israel in any retaliatory attack on their common adversary Iran, according to a senior US official.
World leaders have urged restraint and de-escalation in the aftermath of the weekend’s attack. During a phone call with Iran’s Raisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on both sides to prevent a new confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region”, the Kremlin said.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu against significant escalation and said now was a moment for calm heads to prevail.
