As tensions between President Trump and the Iranian regime re-emerge at the center of global attention, the Middle East braces itself for what may be a defining chapter in regional geopolitics. One fact is inescapable: the stakes have never been higher.

Over the last two decades, Iran has expanded its influence in the Middle East with minimal resistance. While the West concentrated on containing Saddam Hussein and later combating ISIS, Tehran quietly filled the vacuum, embedding itself in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was intended to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Instead, it gave the regime both economic relief and diplomatic legitimacy – without meaningfully restraining its regional aggression.

Then came October 7, 2023 – a date that reshaped the security calculus. The brutal surprise attack on Israel by Hamas launched the Jewish state into its longest and most complex war in decades. What began as a single-front conflict rapidly evolved into a multi-front battle against a coordinated ring of Iranian-backed proxies. For Israel, this was not just a war – it was a wake-up call.

The nuclear question, long a regional obsession, now looms larger than ever. Iran’s status as a threshold nuclear state has given it a level of deterrence and influence far beyond its conventional military........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)