Netanyahu Hints At Khamenei Assassination As Conflict Escalates

The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its fifth day with the escalation ladder steadily going up. Having killed Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists, Israel is now not ruling out assassinating Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Asked, in a media interview, whether it was being planned, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it had not been ruled out and that killing Khamenei would mean a faster end to the war.

The reason why it hasn’t already happened is because the United States, on which Israel is reliant for its equipment supplies and defence, has refused the green light. It is also not providing its 30000-pound bunker buster bomb which can only be released through its B2 stealth aircraft which Israel desperately needs if it has to take out an Iranian nuclear facility Fordow dug deep within a mountain. Fordow reportedly has stockpiles of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade ability with the ability to process it further. The objective of Israel’s surprise attack on Iran was to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. It has managed to cripple many of the overground facilities, but without destroying Fordow, Israel anticipates that Iran could restart the programme. The Americans are reluctant to provide the bomb because that would make it an active party in the war, something difficult to sell domestically. Also, it would invite reprisals from Iran on American presence in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Iran too continued its missile barrages on Israel, even though the discrepancy in the damage it inflicts and what Israel inflicts on it is wide. Israel has claimed that it now has total air dominance over Iran’s skies. It bombarded Tehran after giving an evacuation warning and a strike on Iran’s state television network was caught live as an anchor was reading the news.

Israel is finding itself increasingly isolated. Except for the United States, other countries have been muted in support. In the G7 summit underway in Canada, a statement averred Israel’s right to exist but called for an end to hostilities. United States President Donald Trump was initially said to have refused to be part of the statement but later acceded. He hurriedly left the summit to go back to the White House because the conflict needed his attention.

With both countries caught in a spiral of attack and counterattack, observers think that the conflict could extend for a long time, putting enormous strain on their economies.

Bunker BusterFordowG7 SummitIsrael-Iran conflictKhameneiMiddle East crisisMissile StrikesNetanyahuNuclear TensionsTrump