West Asia's Upheaval Intensifies India's Challenges of Geopolitics

Israel-Iran hostilities make it harder to navigate global turbulence but could also spur changes that strengthen our economy

- AJIT RANADE

The world crossed a dangerous threshold on 13 June. Israel attacked Iran, targeting nuclear facilities, military bases, and even residential zones in order to kill top military leaders and nuclear scientists. Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat and says that Iran's uranium enrichment program had reached a point where a nuclear weapon was just weeks away. The enrichment, while in violation of Iran's commitment to complying with nuclear safeguards, as noted recently by the United Nations' watchdog, was still nowhere close to weapons grade, as per US experts. Hence, Israel's unprovoked attack was a big shocker. Israel so far had stopped short of full-scale war, preferring sabotage, cyber-attacks, and targeted killings. But now Israel has crossed a line of no return for itself, Iran, and the world. Iran launched a counter-attack with over 200 ballistic missiles. It aimed at more than 150 Israeli targets that included nuclear sites and residential zones.

The fallout of the hostilities: 130 people already killed, cities plunged into fear, critical infrastructure damaged, and diplomacy left in the rubble. This escalation by Israel into war has upended Middle Eastern geopolitics. What was once a high-stakes diplomatic standoff has now escalated into a military confrontation. This will likely spiral up, notwithstanding global voices for restraint.