Almost twenty-four hours after the first direct attack from Iranian soil against the state of Israel, some conclusions can be drawn, even if they are preliminary: the damage caused by Iran has been minimal, given the unprecedented dimension of the material used - more than 300 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles; Israel's alliances with the United States, the United Kingdom and France have worked - Jordan has also joined in repelling missiles from Tehran; Israeli containment defences have responded with significant and successful results; and finally, although the situation is very delicate and the military escalation is enormously dangerous, there is a certain possibility, visible in the distance, for containing Netanyahu, if the Biden administration is able to combine its support for Israel when attacked with the prevention of retaliatory responses when they are unnecessary.
Obviously, after the Iranian attack, the situation in the Middle East is no better than before. But it is also true that it is not as bad as was foreshadowed on Saturday night and for the whole of last week, when the Iranian attack was already known to be imminent from the information received and most Western foreign offices were inviting their citizens to leave the country because of the danger of confrontation. A clear example of this is that the countries that halted their air traffic due to the presence of missiles and drones have, in many cases, resumed their commercial routes.
The forceful message from the G7 countries - the USA, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan and Canada - as well as the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, of unequivocal condemnation of Iran's attack, full support for Israel and the warning to Iran that new measures will be adopted if the Islamic republic continues with its destabilizing initiatives in the area, marks a red line for the regime in Tehran. Basically, nothing changes in the condemnation against Tel Aviv for its devastating invasion of Gaza, with an incomprehensible number of human lives lost, but the focus of criticism has shifted from Israel to Iran.
In the Middle East it is obligatory to maintain a principled attitude and a cold-blooded disposition to avoid the situation spiralling out of control
Although all diplomatic efforts have failed since Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza last October, in response to Hamas's attack on Israeli territory, which resulted in the greatest carnage in decades in the Zionist state, a new window of opportunity has now opened for trying: if nothing else, to avoid the worst and a total loss of control in the area. The Middle East has been a powder keg for years and any escalation of tension of the conflict could unleash the worst. For this reason, it is obligatory to maintain a principled attitude and a cold-blooded disposition to avoid the situation spiralling out of control.