WHO PAYS THE PRICE FOR IRAN-ISRAEL CONFLICT?

Only bold diplomacy can avert a wider catastrophe in a region already pushed to the edge

- BY AWADH AL BREIKI | Special to Gulf News

Amid the ongoing military escalation between Israel and Iran, the Middle East is already showing early signs of serious strategic fallout. These developments necessitate rapid action to reinvigorate diplomacy and reopen channels of dialogue to prevent dangerous scenarios that could dramatically reshape the region's geopolitical landscape in the near future.

The exchange of air and missile strikes between the two bitter rivals, Israel and Iran, has left the entire region, not just the peoples of the two nations, on edge. The risk of the conflict spiralling into catastrophic consequences is very real, whether through a potential nuclear radiation leak, the geographical expansion of fighting, or the outbreak of a prolonged war of attrition that could deeply disrupt all regional economies.