Israel’s attempt to kill Nasrallah is a huge challenge to Iran

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*******’s attempt to ***** Nasrallah is a huge challenge to Iran

Short of ******** Tehran, there was no ******* escalation available to ******* than

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, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, but that is exactly what it did on Friday evening.

It is a gamble extraordinaire. The repercussions may be huge, and felt for years to come.

The first signs of a decisive ******** move came as huge blasts and secondary explosions ripped through the southern suburbs of Beirut as the sun fell on the Lebanese capital on Friday evening.

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Benjamin Netanyahu approving an airstrike on Beirut on Friday – ******** Prime Minister’s Office

Witnesses said they had never seen explosions like it, and certainly not since *******’s last war there in 2006.

At the time of writing it is not clear if Nasrallah, a hero to millions on the Shia ***** Street, was ******* but

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.

Whether he survives or not, the consequences of the attempted ************** of Nasrallah are likely to be profound.

Hezbollah is seen by Iran as its deterrent in the region: a powerful military force it relies on to keep ******* from striking it directly.

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******** Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (L) is joined by military officers as they watch strikes on Beirut – ******** Prime Minister’s Office

If ******* is willing not just to degrade it

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, that strategy, that chess piece, will be gone and the fragile balance of power between ******* and Iran fundamentally changed.

******* is in effect signalling that it is ready to take on Iran directly and is challenging the world’s biggest and most powerful Shia ***** nation to hit back, if it dares.

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Benjamin Netanyahu used his speech at the UN to drum up support for his campaign – PAMELA SMITH/UN

“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of ******* cannot reach, and that is true of the entire Middle East,” said Benjamin Netanyahu in his UN speech.

“And now I have a question to you: will your nation stand with *******? Will you stand with democracy and peace? Or will you stand with Iran, a brutal dictatorship that subjugates its own people? Exports terrorism across the globe?”

It’s not clear if Mr Netanyahu regards that as a rhetorical question. After all, all *******’s allies, including the ***, were until hours ago

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Moreover, when Iran launched a massive drone and missile strike against ******* in April, it was a US-led coalition including the ***, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan that swung into action to ****** most of the missiles down.

Will they come together to do it again if Iran attacks ******* directly in response to the strike against the leader of it’s most powerful ********** proxy?

That’s the question Iran will be mulling now as it plots its revenge. And given that several of the countries involved walked out of the UN chamber as Mr Netanyahu stood up to speak, the answer is not at all clear.

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#Israels #attempt #***** #Nasrallah #huge #challenge #Iran

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