Extracts: Israeli attacks could involve more phases and more powerful strikes: Analyst Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft think tank, told Al Jazeera
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"Israel’s waves of attacks on Iran was worrying and could indicate the worst is yet to come"
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“I think we have to be a bit careful now because we have seen two phases of this" "There is a likelihood that there will be a couple more”
“Those may end up being more powerful than the first ones because the first ones may have focused on air defence systems – to take those down in order to pave the way for much more powerful strikes afterwards”
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“Everything we are hearing so far about no casualties, limited damage, is essentially an effort to play down the damage of the Israeli attacks and which indicates that the Iranians don’t want further escalation”
But “it’s not clear whether that will remain the case in a couple of hours if there actually ends up being a phase three, a phase four and perhaps a phase five”
Iran is “ready to respond” to Israel’s attacks on the country, reports the semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing “informed sources”
The agency, affiliated with the IRGCs, reports the sources as saying there is “no doubt” Israel will “receive a proportionate response to any action”
Now you have direct confrontation going on between Israel and Iran. That is not something that used to happen 1. It used to be a proxy battlefield 2. Now you have direct confrontation 3. And that is what’s so concerning to international actors, the US and to so many people in the region 4. The worry is about a wider regional conflagration at a time when tensions are at an all-time high
