United States may go to war with Iran - political analyst

Victor Shlinchak, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Policy, said this on Espreso.

"The Pentagon is now actively preparing for certain actions, and they are obviously related to Iran. There is a suspicion that the United States will either soon enter into a war with Iran or at least more actively support Israel in its attempts to resolve the situation with the Iranian nuclear program, which was started by Israel," Shlinchak said.

According to the Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Policy, the fate of the war in the Middle East is being decided in these hours.

"It is hard to say whether it will be a full-fledged intervention of the United States in the conflict. Perhaps, as has often happened under Trump's presidency, it will be limited to a prelude to force Iran to sign a nuclear deal," Shlinchak added.

Background

On May 1, it became known that the United States had received new intelligence indicating that Israel was preparing to strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

Later, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia had conveyed a direct message to Tehran about the need to seriously consider the proposal of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump for a nuclear deal to prevent a potential armed conflict between Israel and Iran.

On June 7, Iran's intelligence services reported that the country had gained access to a significant amount of classified information about Israel's nuclear program.

Earlier, Trump had repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if negotiations on its nuclear program failed, and later said he was not sure whether Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, which is a key American demand. Trump was presented with military options if negotiations with Iran fail. Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh emphasized that his country would take retaliatory measures against U.S. bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and Iran is attacked.

On the night of June 13, Israel launched a large-scale operation against Iran and conducted preemptive strikes on its nuclear and military facilities. Fox News wrote that Israel managed to deceive Iranian air force leaders into a meeting before the June 13 strikes on the country's military and nuclear facilities.

After the attack, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Tehran to strike a deal “before it's too late,” and called Israel's strikes very successful.

Subsequently, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced a radiation leak inside the nuclear facility in the city of Natanz. However, no contamination was found outside.

Iran responded to Israel's attack on June 13 by launching ballistic missiles: smoke rose in Tel Aviv. Three waves of Tehran's attacks were recorded.

Subsequently, U.S. President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would consider a strike on the underground nuclear facility in Fordo, Iran, if such a step became necessary to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Instead, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran does not seek to expand the conflict with Israel to neighboring countries, but is ready to take self-defense measures if necessary.

As a result of Iran's massive missile attack on Israel on June 14, five Ukrainian citizens were killed in the city of Bat Yam. Among them are three children.