CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The Rising Danger of Regional Confrontation

Photo by Edwin Hooper

With every passing day, the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East are taking on a larger regional cast and threatening to meld.  The mindless nature of the growing confrontation points to more friction on the horizon.

There is a linkage between the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and its surrogates.  Last week, Ukraine struck an Iranian commercial cargo ship in the Caspian Sea that was reportedly taking military equipment from Iran to Russia.  It took diplomatic calls to defuse the crisis and to dissuade Iran from striking back.

This incident was inevitable in view of Iran’s increasing supply of military aid, particularly Shahed drones, to Russia.  In addition to drones, Iran has sent drone trainers to Crimea to assist Russian military forces.  The Russians, in turn, are improving the drone technology and sending newer drone versions to Iran for use against U.S. facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

U.S. intelligence is involved in Ukrainian targeting of Russian forces, and the Trump administration assumes that Russia is involved in similar activity on behalf of Iran.  The United States, moreover, claims that Iran........

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