Aljazeera.net correspondents
Tehran- Waiting for zero hour, a group of Iranians are calling for the exploitation of diplomatic channels and not falling into the trap planned by the “Zionist entity” by assassinating the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) Ismail Haniyeh in TehranWhile the voices of the majority of officials are rising about the need to “clipping the enemy's nails for violating the country's sovereignty.”
Since the moment of Haniyeh's assassination, the Iranians have pointed the finger at the “Israeli enemy” and vowed to avenge the Palestinian guest, rejecting all messages and mediations carried out by Western, Eastern and regional countries.
Those who follow Iranian affairs may agree that there is no going back on the promise made by the Iranian leader. Ali Khamenei By avenging Haniyeh’s blood “because the assassination took place on Iranian soil,” which tips the scales in favor of “the field” over “Western diplomacy” aimed at dissuading Tehran from carrying out its revenge. However, the extent to which this policy affects the nature of the revenge remains a matter of debate in Iranian circles.
The word is for the field
A prominent member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and a leader in the Revolutionary Guards, General Esmail Kowsari, believes that Israel's adventure of assassinating Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran “brought the zero hour in the region closer” and that there is no going back on the decision it took. Axis of Resistance With revenge.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, General Kothari believes that the Western and Eastern diplomatic moves to try to influence Tehran’s decision stem from the international community’s belief in Iran and its allies’ ability to respond decisively, stressing that his country was the first to “activate diplomacy to pave the way for the field and support it in carrying out the duty of revenge.”
He believed that the field has the upper hand in repelling threats and ensuring Iranian national interests, and that it constitutes a strong engine for pushing diplomacy forward, stressing that it would have been more appropriate for the parties leading the mediation campaign these days under the pretext of reducing tension to put an end to the Zionist massacres.
Kothari concluded that “nothing is above the field at the present time,” and that the Iranian response is inevitable, adding that his country “has not and will not rush the response, and no one knows the nature of the revenge and its timing,” but it will not set the clock except according to its timing and calculations, and it will certainly make Tel Aviv regret its actions.
The role of diplomacy
On the other hand, former member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian Parliament, Nozar Shafiei, points out that his country always acts wisely, arranges its papers before taking any step, and draws up alternative plans to deal with various scenarios, stressing that “Tehran will not allow Zionism to reap what it sowed as a result of the assassination of Haniyeh.”
In Shafiei's opinion, it is necessary to respond to the “assassination of the guest who intended to travel to the Islamic Republic with a diplomatic passport,” because failure to carry out the threat will mean a decline in the deterrent capacity, and will open the door wide for enemies to violate national sovereignty. Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he warned of the operation turning into a comprehensive war in the region.
He added that his country has not closed the door to international mediations aimed at reducing tension, but it is employing its diplomacy – at the same time – to defend its sovereignty on the one hand, and to prevent falling into the trap set by the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin NetanyahuTo lure Iran into a war with Tel Aviv's allies, thinking that it would save him from the Gaza quagmire.
The former parliamentarian concluded that Netanyahu has been in a state of confusion and chaos since October 7, 2023, “and is almost going crazy because of the Iranian president's speech.” Masoud Bazeshkian…and his determination to resolve the thorny issues with the Western powers,” which led him to assassinate Haniyeh, to thwart the new Iranian government’s policy, “but he will not succeed in doing so.”
“assassination mistake”
For his part, the former Iranian ambassador to Norway, Sri Lanka and Hungary, Abdolreza Faraji Rad, sees the geopolitical competition between Iran and Israel as a fundamental factor in determining the nature and extent of the Iranian response, stressing that the power of deterrence constitutes the upper hand in the competition between the two sides, and that undermining it in the other is enough to cause it to lose the competition.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Farji Rad explained that the assassination of Haniyeh has shaken Iran’s deterrence, making its restoration and the establishment of new rules of engagement a priority for Tehran, as regional developments have recently increased the intensity of the decades-long rivalry between them.
It is believed that contrary to what is being circulated in the media about the Iranian response to avenge Haniyeh’s blood, its nature and scale are completely different from the previous Operation True Promise, and that Tehran is deliberately adopting an ambiguous policy regarding the response from within or outside its territory, and whether it is responding alone or with the help of allies in the axis of resistance, and no one knows anything about the specific time period.
Farji Rad added that his country does not fear the strengthening of Western mobilization to defend Israel due to the delay in the response, because it will be thoughtful and take all aspects and scenarios into consideration, ruling out that the retaliatory operation will turn into a comprehensive war, due to the coordination between diplomacy and the field in Iran.
Pointing to the existence of a number of hotbeds of tension in some parts of the world, the former Iranian diplomat says that the United States and its Western and regional allies, who are currently mobilizing their air and naval fleets to repel the Iranian attack, will find themselves facing a new reality that requires them to play the tune of appeasement and stand up to Israel to dissuade it from carrying out a counter-response.
Iran is keen to use the term “response to the violation of sovereignty” based on its military doctrine that adopts the element of “second strike”, but despite that, it sees “the winds of the assassination mistake as favorable and in the interest of the field”, following the depletion of Israeli energies due to its ongoing aggression for 10 months on Gaza, and the pressure of world public opinion on political and international circles to put an end to the massacres there.
