Bay Area experts weigh in on Iran retaliatory attack on Israel: 'They have been provoked'
"They could have done something worse, I'm sure. They have a whole arsenal of stuff."
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel in response to the bombing of its embassy in Sryia was a "restrained" response says Professor Lisette Poole.
"They could have done something worse, I'm sure. They have a whole arsenal of stuff. They could have chosen another military response, but they chose something that did not put bodies in the mix," says Poole.
Poole teachers journalism at Cal State East Bay. She spent almost two decades reporting from the Middle East for the Associated Press and the London Times.
Israel hasn't claimed responsibility for the embassy bombing, but the pretext Poole argues is for Iran's support of Hezbollah. The April 1 embassy bombing killed sixteen people. Seven were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, including two were generals. That triggered Iran's attack.
"They have been provoked," says Poole. "Israel invades the sovereign space of an Arab country and then hits an embassy in that country. What did they think was going to happen? Do you think Iran was not going to retaliate?"
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Iran was one of the first Muslim countries to recognize the State of Israel, and were engaged in military and security cooperation. But relations ended following Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In more recent history, Poole says tension increased as the U.S. was working towards a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which included cyberattacks and targeted assassinations.
"But Israel, under Netanyahu, would not accept that. And kept tangling for friction with Iran, under the guise that Iran supports Palestinian resistance," says Poole.
The Israel military claims that Iran launched more than 200 drones and some ballistic missiles, the majority which we shot down.
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Iran called the attack "True Promise," which Professor Karthika Sasikumar says was message for the Iranian people.
"And by having a military response to that attack by Israel, they are telling their people that they are defending their sovereignty and ensuring their security," says Sasikumar, Professor of Political Science at San Jose State University.
She says Iran's response was calculated as to not invoke a military response from the United States. And that they made it very clear that this was the end to their military operation.
"So, they have now basically forced Israel to take the next step of escalation if they chose to," explains Sasikumar.
Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising a response.
Sasikumar points out further escalation could lead the Middle East into something even bigger.
"If this currently crisis is not handled very deftly, this could lead to the development of a nuclear weapon by Iran, in self-defense," says Sasikumar. "And then there would be nothing to prevent Israel from declaring openly that they have nuclear weapons capabilities as well. And then you would have an openly nuclearized Middle East."
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