US-Israel-Iran war: 'Middle East is living in fear'

702’s Clement Manyathela speaks with Tovah Lazaroff, a journalist in Israel and Muhammed Mukhta, a political activist, author and academic.

Listen below:

The US has joined Israel’s war against Iran, striking key nuclear sites over the weekend.

Iran responded with strikes against Israel.

Mukhta is in Türkiye and says people in the region are living in fear of escalating violence.

He adds that it is unlikely that the US and Israel will be able to trigger a regime change in Iran.

“They wish for a regime collapse, but I think that is not realistic. The regime in Iran is very strong.”

- Muhammed Mukhta, political activist

Mukhta believes we will see a rush of countries in the region, including Iran, pushing to develop nuclear weapons in the coming years to protect themselves from attacks.

He does not think Iran will launch a direct attack against the US, as it would be too risky for them; it will rather focus on keeping the fight between the Islamic Republic and Israel.

Lazaroff is currently in Israel and says everyone is being encouraged to stay home and head to a safe space if their early warning system detects incoming missiles.

“As long as people can get to a safe space, they will survive.”

- Tovah Lazaroff, journalist in Israel

She says that the US has much stronger weapons than Israel and did more damage to Iran’s nuclear programme than Israel could do alone.

However, she says it is not clear how much damage has been done.

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