On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former Middle East adviser to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Alastair Crooke. He discusses Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel, and Iran’s restraint in trying to avoid a regional war after many escalatory actions by West Jerusalem. He also talks about the removal of Middle East experts from the State Department, and Amos Hochstein’s operation as a ‘one-man band’. Crooke discusses Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s embarrassing belief that Iranian restraint would be rewarded with sanctions relief and a Gaza ceasefire, the reformist camp’s restraint contributing to Israel’s escalations, such as the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and the bombing of Lebanon. He explains how Israeli propaganda that Lebanese homes are housing Hezbollah rockets and weapons is being used to justify the mass bombing of villages, how Israel has seen Iran’s self-restraint as weakness and an opportunity to continue escalating, and how the US is allowing itself to be dragged into a regional war with Iran at the invitation of Israel. Crooke also touches on the Pentagon’s fear that the US is overextended, as tension with Russia and China continues to rise, and Netanyahu’s plan to expel all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.
