On the night of June 8, the Iranian regime attacked Israel for the first time without Israel having previously attacked Iran. The Islamic Republic justified the missile strikes not by defending its own territory but by Israeli attacks on Beirut. At the same time, it threatened further strikes if Israel continued its attacks in Lebanon or responded to the Iranian missiles.
With this, the Iranian regime turns Lebanon into its own casus belli and shifts the logic of the confrontation. Iran expert Omid Rezaee of Zeit sees this as a symptom of the “new ego of Iran.” The attack marks a significant point in a changed Iranian policy that now acts offensively without waiting for a direct attack.
The incident marks a new level of escalation in the Middle East. Previously, Iran had always portrayed its attacks as reactions to Israeli or US actions. Now Tehran is acting preemptively for the first time, making support for its allies an official casus belli.
Source: www.zeit.de
