F-35

• Following Iran’s barrage of drone and missile attacks on April 13, Israel has retaliated and conducted a strike attack near the city of Isfahan in southern Iran.
• Both sides have now matched each other in striking targets within each other’s national border.
• However, details of the extent of any damage done by Israel’s strike are disputed and are being played down by Iran.

The politics of status

• Domestic issues can play an important role here, in how the political and military elites of both states decide to react.
• Despite the majority of the Israeli public being in favour of the campaign to eradicate Hamas in Gaza, he remains unpopular.
• Hence there are good reasons for him to respond military to the challenge posed by Iran.

Regime forged in war

• Historically, the trauma of war has been used by the Islamic Republic to foster nationalism among the population.
• Following the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the loss of Iranian life, which totalled in the hundreds of thousands, played a huge role in cementing “the formation and empowerment of the Islamic Republic”.
• Militarily contesting Israel can be perceived as a means of solidifying the regime’s position internally and enhancing the country’s image within the region.
• At present, neither side has the ability to send an expeditionary force into each other’s territory.

Ben Soodavar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.