Escalation in Middle East: US and Israel Launch Strikes Against Iran, Raising Fears of Nuclear Conflict

The United States and Israel have initiated attacks on Iran. A dangerous turn in the war with Iran emerged early on the morning of March 8. The US launched fatal strikes on Iranian oil refining and related centers around the cities of Tehran and Karaj. Consequently, the air around the capital and Karaj city became completely toxic.

The Iranian government warned its citizens to wear 'masks', keep their food in refrigerators, and change the 'filters' of their drinking water systems. It also threatened to attack oil refining centers in the Gulf Arab states within a few hours. Immediately following this, a fatal attack was carried out on the major oil refining center in Israel's 'Haifa Bay'.

The attack on Haifa Bay has dealt a strong blow to Israel's economy and military capability. This is because the oil coming from that refining center accounted for half of Israel's consumption. With these attacks, the war initiated by the US-Israel in Iran has taken a dangerous turn for the entire conflict.

If this continues, this war could turn into a nuclear war. It could also destroy the entire Earth.

I see two reasons behind the fear that such a terrible outcome might occur. First, we were unaware that Israel could sustain this level of damage in a few days before the 12-day war. Israel is now experiencing that reality.

Israel had to face the first shock upon realizing that Iran's latest generation missiles could breach its 'Iron Dome' defense system. The government has not yet officially released information on how much damage Israel has sustained in the 12-day war. However, various estimates mentioned 33 to 34 deaths and over 3500 injuries.

In the ongoing war, Iran is firing a large number of missiles, which are not only numerous but also much more advanced than those used last June. A 'solid fuel rocket' named 'Kheibar Shekan' was fired at the Haifa oil refining center, capable of carrying an 11-meter long 'warhead' weighing half a ton.

Al Jazeera showed hypersonic missiles targeting the sky over Tel Aviv at night, where the missiles were seen easily evading Israeli 'interceptors'. Furthermore, missiles with independent 'maneuvering' capabilities appear difficult to track. Moreover, 'warheads' fired in 'cluster' form not only evade 'interceptors' but also appear capable of easily striking areas with ordinary people/children in broad daylight.

Many American studies estimate that Iranian missiles are capable of targeting Israel. At the start of the war, it was found that 10 percent of missiles evaded 'interceptors' and hit their targets, but this number has now increased to 20 to 35 percent in just one week.

Considering Iran's growing capability, analysts speculate that they are emptying their stock of older weapons and starting to use new and advanced ones, including 'hypersonic' and independently 'maneuvering' missiles.

The strike carried out by America with the aim of confusing, creating rebellion, and staging a coup has instead further strengthened the Iranian regime. This has sharply increased the Iranian people's support for the government.

Israel and the US are trying hard to destroy the Iranian missile launch sites. Their efforts have only been partially successful. Most missile launches occur from underground. It is difficult to locate such places before the launch. Such locations are used only once. Even if they can be clearly identified at the time of use, attacking them later holds little significance.

Such underground 'launchers' are spread throughout Iran. Therefore, identifying them initially is almost impossible. Iran is creating more and more such launch sites every day. No one knows how many such launchers exist across Iran. After their task is complete, they self-destruct. Many estimate that there are thousands of such launch sites.

The strike carried out by America with the aim of confusing, creating rebellion, and staging a coup has instead further strengthened the Iranian regime. This has sharply increased the Iranian people's support for the government. Iran is currently adopting a strategy it decided upon some time ago.

It first attacked US military bases in Gulf countries and also attacked some hotels, assuming US officials might be hiding there. Now, Iran is gradually tightening control over the 'Strait of Hormuz', through which 20 billion barrels of oil are transported daily. The Houthis are assisting Iran in tightening this control.

If Iran can maintain its current rate of attack on Israeli cities, Benjamin Netanyahu is certain to face a serious dilemma. Israeli citizens are accustomed to considering their security mandatory. Previously, they had faith in the 'Iron Dome'. That faith was natural until the fighting last June.

But now they are losing faith in both the Iron Dome and Netanyahu. In June last year, Israelis found themselves at the end of a war for the first time in the latest generation. The large number of casualties, damage to the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, and destruction at Haifa airport made them feel vulnerable inside what they considered an impenetrable fortress.

The Netanyahu government did not release casualty figures for a long time. However, people knew they were forced to take refuge in 'basements' and 'bunkers' during the nightly attacks. Meanwhile, the government was not releasing casualty figures. Yet, most people were clearly aware that people were being killed or seriously injured.

As a result, for the first time, Israelis experienced the fear that Palestinian victims in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem have been enduring for many decades. They are no longer certain whether they will wake up the next morning after sleeping at night. They are uncertain whether their children, going to school in the morning, will return in the afternoon.

According to another survey conducted by the Hebrew newspaper 'Maariv' two months after the 12-day war, it was estimated that if elections were held then, opposition parties would win approximately 62 seats in the 120-member 'Knesset'.

The terror Israel experienced is what millions of Arab families in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen have been enduring since 2003 until today. The war imposed on them by the US based on Israel's misleading information is responsible for this situation.

The bombings carried out by Iran during a few nights last June shattered the illusion of invincibility that Netanyahu had worked hard to maintain in Israel. Furthermore, a large segment of the public formed the opinion that Netanyahu's right-wing coalition could not keep Israel safe.

According to a survey conducted by 'Pew Research Center' in May 2024, about 58 percent of voters had started opposing Netanyahu's right-wing coalition by then. The study showed that only 38 percent supported Netanyahu and his government.

According to another survey conducted by the Hebrew newspaper 'Maariv' two months after the 12-day war, if elections were held then, opposition parties were estimated to win about 62 seats in the 120-member 'Knesset'. More significantly, only 27 percent of Israelis trusted Netanyahu as their Prime Minister.

In reaction to such studies, Netanyahu increased his cruel attacks on helpless Palestinians in Gaza and the 'West Bank'. Between October 10, 2025, and February 10, 2026, over a period of 120 days, the Israeli army violated the ceasefire mediated by Trump between Israel and Hamas 1620 times.

This means the peace agreement was broken more than 15 times daily. During that period, the Israeli army fired on Palestinian civilians 520 times. They raided residential areas 79 times. They bombed and shelled Gaza 749 times. They destroyed private property 232 times and detained 50 Palestinians from Gaza.

Israel continues its work of blocking essential humanitarian aid across the entire Gaza Strip and destroying homes and infrastructure even today. Looking at all these facts and evidence, it is not difficult to understand that Netanyahu is determined to create a 'Greater' Israel by any means necessary. There is no longer any doubt that he is waging a crusade for that purpose.

Most Israelis are now realizing further that the three 'means' Netanyahu is trying to use have created a war that cannot be won conventionally. Many realize that victory is not possible in this manner even with all of America's technological power on their side.

Now the question arises, what is Netanyahu's last weapon? The answer is Israel's nuclear bomb. Very few people know how many nuclear bombs Israel possesses today. According to an estimate published by Al Jazeera in 2009, Israel already had 118 nuclear bombs. These bombs have different explosive powers.

The current generation surely has not forgotten the destructive power of a 'small' nuclear bomb. The explosion of the uranium bomb detonated in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was equivalent to 15,000 tons of dynamite. It destroyed 70 percent of the buildings in Hiroshima. By the end of 1945, the estimated death toll from the attack reached 140,000.

A few days later, a plutonium bomb exploded in Nagasaki. It destroyed an area of 6.7 square kilometers of the city. About 74,000 people were killed. In both explosions, the ground temperature reached about 4,000 degrees Celsius. Both cities experienced radioactive fallout after the explosion.

Generally, arranging a visit for a head of state of any country to the US takes one to two years. However, when Trump spoke of an agreement in 2025 to limit Iran's uranium enrichment to the level necessary for peaceful use, Netanyahu was at his door the very next day.

The use of such a weapon anywhere is an unimaginable prospect. But Israel under Netanyahu's leadership could be an exception. In fact, Netanyahu is a proven criminal. As soon as he is no longer the Prime Minister or in any government position in Israel, he is certain to end up in jail on three counts of corruption.

He has taken the campaign to create a so-called 'Greater Israel' as the most reliable work to keep him out of jail. The goal of such a 'Greater Israel' is to expel all Palestinian Arabs. That is why his government has killed more than 75,227 Palestinians between October 7, 2023, and February 21, 2026. He feels no remorse for the 154,525 injured.

In the meantime, the US and the international community brokered a ceasefire with Hamas. Following that, Netanyahu needed to create a new enemy to remain in power. For that, he pointed to Iran. Iran was then presented as a major threat to the US and Israel. In US President Donald Trump, he found the foolishly arrogant personality necessary to fulfill his objective.

Generally, arranging a visit for a head of state of any country to the US takes one to two years. However, when Trump spoke of an agreement in 2025 to limit Iran's uranium enrichment to the level necessary for peaceful use, Netanyahu was at his door the very next day.

Netanyahu met Trump six times in 2025 and 2026 alone. After each meeting, Trump would back away from peace talks with Iran and put forward new demands.

Currently, the attack by Israel in Iran is not proceeding as expected. Now Netanyahu has only one option left: the use of nuclear weapons against Iran. There are unconfirmed reports that Israel has already moved most of its nuclear weapons to submarines. But even that is not certain.

Only Russia and China can now stop Israel from using nuclear weapons. They must clearly tell the Israelis and the entire world: if a nuclear weapon is used against Iran under any pretext, the situation will change completely, and the relevant stakeholders must be prepared to face a new reality.

(From The Wire)