Israel using ‘psychological warfare’ against Iranians
Abas Aslani, a Tehran-based analyst of Iranian affairs, says Israel is waging “psychological warfare” in Iran through assassinations and increasingly harsh threats.
Israel has “been trying to intimidate the public and increasing the level of their threats in order to stop Iran from responding to Israeli attacks,” said Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies. “But the fact is that Iran so far has not come with full force yet because they have kept open the possibility the US might engage in this conflict.”
Rather than stir fear or chaos, Israel’s attacks and threats have actually created a stronger sense of national unity in Iran, he said.
The Israeli strikes “will not deter the country [Iran] from responding”.
Trump’s mixed signals part of ‘psychological warfare’ against Iran
The US president is engaging in psychological warfare with his conflicting comments on the Israel-Iran confrontation, says Adel Abdel Ghafar from the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
“Things can escalate, but I think ultimately President Trump wants this to wind down because if US facilities are attacked, if the Strait of Hormuz is closed, there’s going to be an impact on the US economy and the global economy,” he told Al Jazeera.
A war in the Middle East will not serve Trump’s interests of economic growth, Ghafar said. Israel, however, has its own agenda, including Netanyahu “fighting for his political survival and wanting perpetual war”.
Other Israeli objectives include “some sort of regime change” in Iran and “pulling the world’s attention away from Gaza”, he added.
“We have the use of famine as a tool of war, which is clearly a war crime. But unfortunately, now the world’s attention is focused on the conflict between Iran and Israel and not on the crisis in Gaza.”
More than 600 foreigners flee Iran into Azerbaijan
Hundreds of foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since Israel began striking the country.
“Since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, more than 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan,” an unnamed government official told the AFP news agency.
The evacuees, who crossed the border via the Astara checkpoint on the Caspian Sea coast, are being transported to Baku airport and “flown to their home countries on international flights”, the source said.
Among those evacuated are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China and Vietnam.
