US and Hizbollah call for restraint, no attack on Iran
Beirut (AsiaNews) - If Israel were to attack Iranian nuclear sites, the Middle East would be set ablaze setting off a conflict that is bound to get out of control, said Hizbollah Deputy Chief Sheikh Naim Qassem.
"America knows that if there is a war on Iran, this means that the whole region will be set alight, with no limit to the fires," he told Reuters. Israel will also likely try to drag a reluctant United States into confrontation with Tehran, Hizbollah's deputy chief said.
Yesterday, White House spokesman Jay Carney used similar terms in warning against an attack on Iran. "Any military action in that region threatens greater instability in the region," he, adding that Americans could be affected in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Iran "borders both Afghanistan and Iraq", Carney noted. "We have civilian personnel in Iraq. We have military personnel as well as civilians in Afghanistan."
Carney's words come days before a planned 5 March meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Israel, attacking Iran's nuclear sites has been a hot topic for years. In recent days, articles in favour or against such an action have been front page.
For Israel and much of the international community, Iran's nuclear programme is military in nature. Tehran has always claimed that it is peaceful.
For now, the United States is pushing for a diplomatic solution, applying sanctions Iran can hardly afford. The latest against oil sales and bank transactions are making it harder for Iran to trade with many countries and vice versa. And many Iranian banks are running out of capital. Yesterday, Iran's central bank suggested it might accept payment in gold rather dollars.
Iran's is also on the eve of parliamentary elections. Whatever the outcome, few expect it to have an impact on the nuclear problem. They are important however because they are the first vote since the 2009 presidential poll.
The results were challenged by a grassroots movement that came to be known as the 'green wave', which accused the regime of electoral fraud and demanded reforms.
After almost eight months of demonstrations, that were accompanied by killings, violence and arrests by the pasdaran (revolutionary guards), the resistance was stifled.
This time around, pro-reform activists are trying to convince people not to vote.
The elections are expected to turn into a showdown within the conservative camp, between supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those of Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Khamenei.
For some analysts, the fight is between the president's populism and attempt to hold onto power, and the theocratic elites using pseudo-religious arguments to retain control over society and the economy.
Ahmadinejad will certainly lose. The Council of Guardians has in fact excluded a number of politicians from his camp, preventing them from running.
What is more, Ahmadinejad's friends have also lost their ministerial posts and some have been arrested over scandals and corruption. (PD)
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