MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. The US and NATO are guilty of a new round of escalation in the Middle East, as they have given Israel the green light for a military operation in southern Lebanon, Iranian political scientist Ruhollah Modabber has told TASS.
"Israel would have been unable to act without support and consent from the US and NATO. It is Washington and the North Atlantic Alliance that have unleashed a new war in Lebanon and the Middle East by coordinating Israel's terrorist operations," Modabber believes. If the other countries do not resist the Washington-led alliance, they will at some point face a direct military threat from the US, the expert noted.
The political analyst believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "made decisions on the beginning of his terrorist actions in Lebanon while staying in New York at the UN General Assembly’s session, having obtained the consent of the United States, NATO, Britain and France."
According to Modabber, Western and US supporters are too careless, if they think that the Israeli military operation is temporary. Netanyahu "officially announced that his program is massive."
On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against Hezbollah. It has been conducting massive airstrikes against military installations of the Lebanese Shiite movement. One of the attacks killed Hezbollah’s leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on September 27. The Shiite movement confirmed his death and vowed to continue the fight with Israel. In the early hours of October 1, the IDF began a limited ground operation in border areas in southern Lebanon.