ghazi52
THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
Iran will see this as a battle for survival
Lyse Doucet
BBC Chief international correspondent
Prime Minister Netanyahu has opened another open-front war.
He says it will take “as many days as it will take” and he’s been clear that his ambition is not just to destroy Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon; he also wants to bring down the regime.
The Iranian regime is going to see this as a battle for survival - this is something they have also been preparing for.
They will throw everything they have at this war.
Their attacks so far have been limited. The Israeli intelligence assessment seems to be that despite the damage to Iran's arsenal after the last 20 months of war in the region, Iran still has about 2,000 ballistic missiles and a capacity to produce more.
They’re now using them to hit strategic targets which are in or near populated centres.
In Tel Aviv, for example, they seem to be aiming at the defence ministry and other military sites but they are landing short and hitting residential areas. Either deliberately or accidentally there is a risk of mass casualties - in both Israel and Iran.
But Iran does not want to draw in America directly - Iran's Supreme Leader knows that militarily and politically Iran cannot win. But as this war escalates, Iranian military officials are now warning of attacks against U.S. bases in the region.
They had always believed their bulwark against the kind of war has been one American president after another saying to Netanyahu: "No, you cannot attack Iran's nuclear facilities, we will try to find a diplomatic way out of it - that is simply too dangerous an option".
President Trump says he did not give a green light - but even if it was just amber, this war has been unleashed, with no clear sign as to how and when it will end.
Lyse Doucet
BBC Chief international correspondent
Prime Minister Netanyahu has opened another open-front war.
He says it will take “as many days as it will take” and he’s been clear that his ambition is not just to destroy Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon; he also wants to bring down the regime.
The Iranian regime is going to see this as a battle for survival - this is something they have also been preparing for.
They will throw everything they have at this war.
Their attacks so far have been limited. The Israeli intelligence assessment seems to be that despite the damage to Iran's arsenal after the last 20 months of war in the region, Iran still has about 2,000 ballistic missiles and a capacity to produce more.
They’re now using them to hit strategic targets which are in or near populated centres.
In Tel Aviv, for example, they seem to be aiming at the defence ministry and other military sites but they are landing short and hitting residential areas. Either deliberately or accidentally there is a risk of mass casualties - in both Israel and Iran.
But Iran does not want to draw in America directly - Iran's Supreme Leader knows that militarily and politically Iran cannot win. But as this war escalates, Iranian military officials are now warning of attacks against U.S. bases in the region.
They had always believed their bulwark against the kind of war has been one American president after another saying to Netanyahu: "No, you cannot attack Iran's nuclear facilities, we will try to find a diplomatic way out of it - that is simply too dangerous an option".
President Trump says he did not give a green light - but even if it was just amber, this war has been unleashed, with no clear sign as to how and when it will end.
