Iran

I can't for one moment imagine who might've supplied that level of technology to Sunni extremists.

is Iran exercising surprising levels of restraint at the moment?

Given they have been arming various terrorist groups to the teeth and supplying Russia with over 1500 drones used to kill civilians in Ukraine. No.

By restraint, do you mean funding and supplying the Houthi with military equipment while sending vast quantities of drones and other weapons to the Russians?

Frankly the entirely of the Iranian government and religious leadership could be picked off by Mossad and I really wouldn’t give a damn.

Edit: oops, crossed with Andy.

Given they have been arming various terrorist groups to the teeth and supplying Russia with over 1500 drones used to kill civilians in Ukraine.

Shocking isn't it? Foreign govts supplying weapons to another country which are then used to kill civilians indiscriminately. Someone really should put a stop to it. 🙄

Is it just me or is Iran exercising surprising levels of restraint at the moment?

It's just you. Iran has been trying to destabilize the region for many years, supporting violent groups in many countries. They aren't exercising restraint, they just know that getting into an open conflict with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Israel, or the U.S. would be devastating so they try to keep their involvement at the plausible deniability level.

Someone really should put a stop to it. 🙄

If only we were the sort of country to supply arms to others. We can only wish, eh...

Shocking isn’t it? Foreign govts supplying weapons to another country which are then used to kill civilians indiscriminately. Someone really should put a stop to it.

Is this thread about Iran or are you hoping to start a thread about something else? If it's about Iran, they are one of the most repressive regimes in the world and arm violent groups across the region.

If you want it to be about something else, you should start a thread about that.

So are we allowed to talk about Iran?

Yeah of course; Iran is the 'enemy', so it's absolutely fine.

I can’t for one moment imagine who might’ve supplied that level of technology to Sunni extremists.

Neither can I. I mean; it's not like a belligerent Western superpower has a vested interest in destroying the Iranian regime in order to be able to gain control if Iran's vast oil and natural resources, is it?

Frankly the entirely of the Iranian government and religious leadership could be picked off by Mossad and I really wouldn’t give a damn.

I would. Because it would lead to massive instability with various Western and Russian backed groups waging an unwinnable war that would devastate the country and lead to the deaths of countless innocent people, as well as huge displacement ofIranians who would be forced to feel to seek shelter. See; Iraq.

Given they have been arming various terrorist groups to the teeth and supplying Russia with over 1500 drones used to kill civilians in Ukraine. No.

Western nations such as the US and the UK have been supplying weapons to nations such as Saudi Arabia and the One We Cannot Mention for decades. At a cost of hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. And at enormous profit for some. Can we at least be unilateral in our criticism of warmongerers?

Wow, that was quick, you don't post for weeks and weeks and then pow, all of sudden when a particular type of thread starts up...It's like a bat signal, huh?

If you want it to be about something else, you should start a thread about that.

Nope I have no wish to start a thread about that because it's not allowed as per this forum's censorship policy. It's illustrative though how the usual western imperialist cheerleaders like yourself don't want to talk about the other thing.

So how many attacks should a 'sovereign country' (I know you like this phrase) like Iran tolerate before before it responds in kind?

to answer the OP, no.  im surprised its taken 24hrs to come up, but expect this to be locked within the coming 24

Well said, @brownperson

Was listening to the news the other night thinking whether we'll look back and look at this period of world history in a similar vein to late 1930s Europe. 

Iran isnt exercising restraint Iran is biding its time. None of the acts of terrorism or war described above can ever be justified especially not as a response to acts of terrorism or war.
As for supplying unsavoury regimes or organisations with weapons, that trail just ends up unpleasantly close to our own doorsteps..

I watched Kandahar on Prime over Xmas, those Irani chaps are not always nice but they have some lovely haircuts and moustaches.

Maybe the Saudi regime are behind this? Who's behind the Saudis? Who's behind the groups behind the Saudis behind the bad guys?

is Iran exercising surprising levels of restraint at the moment?

Iran doesn't have to do anything, Western governments (incl Israel) have been doing all the heavy work for them.

In the last twenty years, as a direct result of Western interference and mind-boggling miscalculations, Iran has been able to sit back and watch its power and influence grow ever greater.

Israel certainly does not want a military conflict with Iran, but what Netanyahu appears to be attempting to do is provoke Hezbollah resulting in a northern front opening up.

Politically Netanyahu is a dead man walking. He knows full well, like everyone else, including Joe Biden, that only the conflict in Gaza is keeping him in power and that as soon as the fighting stops he is finished.

He also knows that the IDF cannot keep pounding rubble in Gaza indefinitely, nor that global public opinion (incl US) will allow him to carry on killing hundreds of women and children everyday indefinitely.

He has no doubt calculated that a long protracted war with Hezbollah could possibly save his political skin domestically, and that global opinion might rally behind Israel.

The first part of the calculation is almost certainly just wishful thinking but judging by the reactions already on this thread the second part of the calculation is probably more achievable.

"Stand with Israel!"

Israel certainly does not want a military conflict with Iran,

Actually, Israel has been wanting to bomb Iran's nuclear program for years but the U.S. has told them not to. The U.S. does not want a regional war, but pretty much every regime in the region is dislikeable. That leaves the U.S. with the choice of either walking away and letting it all go up in flames or working with some very dislikeable regimes. AIUI, part of the deal in the 1970s to get Egypt and Israel to sign a peace treaty was to pledge military and economic support for both countries. Having done that, the U.S. is now stuck with two allies with serious human rights problems, but withdrawing support is likely to lead to another regional war, which would be even worse.

Same with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc. Extremely unpleasant regimes but if the U.S. withdrew support, Saudi Arabia would probably develop nuclear weapons because they are afraid of Iran. That would be much worse than trying to keep S.A. as an ally. Same goes with Turkey - nasty regime, but dropping them as an ally would probably just make things worse.

In these things, there are no easy decisions, only choices between unpleasant options. If the U.S. stopped support for Israel or any of the other countries that is supplies weapons to, there's a high likelihood of a regional war, possibly a nuclear one.

What the hell just happened argee? Someone just brought up a major news story whose consequences are very likely to affect your shopping bills in the very near future.

And scupper any vague desperate hopes that Rishi Sunak might have had of avoiding electoral Armageddon in a few months time.

That leaves the U.S. with the choice of either walking away and letting it all go up in flames or working with some very dislikeable regimes.

The US has wanted to disengage from the region for a long time, the normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and the military alliance/pact which was supposed to go with it was intended to be a step in that direction. The Hamas attack on Oct 7th scuppered all that.

A huge win for Iran and a massive blow for both the US and Israel, and one which imo they will never recover.

A regional war would benefit no one. Certainly not Iran for whom everything is going in their favour, which is precisely why they have no intention of getting drawn into one. No doubt some far-right hawks in both the US and Israel see the risk of regional war as less of a worry, and not least because the situation is so desperate for them.