At the Brink

The Zionist strategy in the Middle East has long relied on encouraging its adversaries to exhaust themselves through conflict. From the Iran-Iraq war to the rise of ISIS across Syria and Iraq, and the devastating confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the region has repeatedly witnessed the consequences of Muslim states being drawn into mutually destructive conflicts through the machinations of others.
Israel and the United States have consistently sought to turn the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia, against Iran. Their preferred outcome is a regional war in which Muslim countries destroy one another while outside powers intervene later to dictate the settlement and divide the spoils.
During the initial phases of the current conflict, several attempts were made, including suspected provocations and false flags, to drag Saudi Arabia directly into war with Iran. That disaster was avoided through restraint and active diplomacy. Riyadh deserves credit for refusing to be pushed into a confrontation whose consequences would have been catastrophic for the entire region.
That restraint is now under severe pressure. Joint US-Saudi strikes against Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, followed by threats of retaliation from militias linked to Tehran, have created an environment in which one miscalculation could trigger a much wider conflict. Attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, Iraqi territory and regional shipping routes are steadily narrowing the space for diplomacy.
Both sides must now look beyond immediate retaliation and consider who ultimately benefits from their confrontation.
Saudi Arabia must refrain from targeting Shia sites and armed groups inside Iraq without the consent of the Iraqi state, while also ending attacks on Yemeni infrastructure that deepen regional hostility. Iran, for its part, must rein in allied militias and prevent further attacks on Saudi oil facilities, civilian infrastructure and Gulf shipping.
Restraint is not weakness. At this moment, it is the only means of denying Israel and the United States the wider war they have long sought.