Israel's retaliation against Iran is already on the horizon.
Judging from the current situation, Israel's retaliation against Iran will be carried out on two levels.
One is the diplomatic dimension.
On April 16, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz sent a letter to 32 countries, asking them to impose sanctions on Iran's missile program and define Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist organization" in order to weaken Iran's international image and influence.
On the day, the United States was the first to respond. Sullivan said the U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran and entities that support Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the coming days, while the U.S. military will strengthen missile defense and early warning systems throughout the Middle East to reduce the effectiveness of Iran's missile and drone capabilities.
Not only Sullivan, but also U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who has just concluded her visit to China, also stated that the United States will impose a series of new sanctions on Iran to hit Iran's oil export capacity. In addition, a U.S. Treasury Department official revealed that the U.S. will seek China's help to jointly sanction Iran.
In addition to the United States, EU Foreign Minister Borrell also revealed that on the 16th, EU foreign ministers have held an online meeting to discuss the issue of imposing new sanctions on Iran. So it is not surprising that in the next few days, Western countries will successively announce new sanctions against Iran.
Of course, China will not be able to cooperate with the United States in dealing with Iran, and Iran will not be crushed by the new Western sanctions, after all, there are enough such sanctions. So what the outside world is more concerned about is Israel's retaliation on another level: the military field.
Although Israel has gone back and forth several times on the question of whether to retaliate after the Iranian air strikes, I have always believed that according to Israel's temper and madness, it is absolutely impossible for Israel to be held back by the United States, and it will definitely take retaliatory measures, and it is very likely to retaliate directly against Iran's domestic targets.
The other day, the Israeli wartime cabinet held successive meetings to discuss the topic of "retaliation against Iran". By the 16th, an Israeli military spokesman said at the Julius military base that Israel would not remain indifferent, that Iran would not escape punishment, and that Israel would respond to Iran in its own way at the place and time of its choosing.
At present, there is news circulating outside, which is said to be from an Iranian official, saying that the United States has privately contacted Iran and asked Iran to cooperate with Israel to "put on a show" and allow Israel to carry out a symbolic attack on Iran, which can save Israel's face and will not lead to the escalation of the conflict and the spread of war, but Iran immediately rejected this request.
It's hard to say whether this news is true or not, but it is indeed the most in line with the current thinking of the United States, because Biden does not want Iran and Israel to really fight, and he really can't hold Netanyahu, if the two sides can cooperate to play such a play, it is indeed the best way. But this is certainly not the way Israel wants to retaliate, and even if it does, I am afraid it is only a unilateral idea of the United States.
All in all, this festival between Iran and Israel will not pass so simply, and mobilizing the forces of the Western world to impose sanctions on Iran is just the beginning, and the next highlight will depend on how the Israeli army does it.