International

Iran-Israel Conflict: No Calm Before The Storm

While other wars and civil conflicts continue to take their toll in the background, Iran stands largely isolated, and Israel positions itself as the military powerbroker of the region. It is becoming clear that we are closer to a broader war than ever before.

Iran-Israel conflict
Outlook India cover for July 1, 2025 issue. Photo: Outlook India
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"UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" 바카라 is what U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded from Iran as the conflict between Israel and Iran reaches a tipping point. The move is anything but subtle, considering that the U.S. is not a part of the conflict and sits an ocean away. Trump now seems oddly eager to referee a conflict that is not his, on a continent that is not his either.

The world stands at a precarious juncture, with irony bleeding through global diplomacy and all involved leaders advocating reckless display of bravado. In another claim of self-defense, Israel launched a strike on Iran. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to mediate peace talks 바카라 even as his war in Ukraine grinds into its third year.

Trump, who had been riding the wave of 바카라America First바카라, now appears poised to formally thrust the U.S. into the West Asian conflict.

Countries that had shied away from taking a stance on Israel바카라s war on Gaza are now lining up to support its strikes on Iran 바카라 based largely on unverified claims that Tehran is reviving its nuclear weapons program. 

바카라We will not let the world바카라s most dangerous regime get the world바카라s most dangerous weapon,바카라 said Israel바카라s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Israel maintains approximately 80 intact nuclear weapons, as per the SIPRI report. The country is not even a part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran is, for now.

There is no telling how the world order might shift if the U.S. enters a conflict that has already claimed hundreds of lives in just a week. Yet Trump speaks of it with unsettling casualness. 바카라I may do it, I may not do it바카라 바카라 a flippant remark that starkly underplays the gravity of such a decision.

While other wars and civil conflicts continue to take their toll in the background, Iran stands largely isolated, and Israel positions itself as the military powerbroker of the region. It is becoming clear that we are closer to a broader war than ever before.

What is at stake? Potentially, everything.

In Outlook Magazine바카라s latest issue 바카라Pre-emptive Unprovoked바카라 dated July 1, 2025, we analyse aspects of this West Asian conflict that risk causing a catastrophic restructuring of world powers.

In 바카라And then, the Lion was Torn Apart바카라, Vijay Prashad writes about the Operation Rising Lion. 바카라The licence for the Israeli attack does not come from the United Nations Charter, but from a long-standing agreement with the US that Israel must have a 바카라qualitative military edge바카라 (QME) over all of its neighbouring states, including Iran.바카라

The conflict between Iran and Israel is not new 바카라 it has been brewing for decades. Once trading partners in arms, crude oil, and intelligence, the two nations are now firmly at odds. 

Trisha Majumder writes about how the status-quo came to be, in 바카라Why This War?바카라

바카라The ties between Iran and Israel dates back to 1948 when West Asia was not open to accepting Israel as a new country. But Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was an exception after it became a close ally of the United States during the Cold War.바카라

Back home for Trump, the conflict has exposed cracks within the usually unified MAGA base. Even his loudest cheer-leader, Vice President J.D. Vance, initially voiced concern about being drawn into yet another endless war. Still, for Trump and his allies, the escalation presents a strategic opportunity 바카라 a chance to finally dismantle Iran바카라s nuclear ambitions.

Seema Guha writes, 바카라The B2 aircraft needed to carry the bombs are again available only with the US. This is why Trump perhaps wants to join Israel바카라s operations. But active involvement is not what hardline isolationists among Trump바카라s support base want. They see it as a betrayal of his 바카라America First바카라 stance.바카라

In this issue, Outlook also covers the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade; the crash of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad 바카라 leaving just one survivor among 242 on board, killing an additional 29 on ground.

Swati Subhedar, Ishfaq Naseem and Jinit Parmar in 바카라The 32-Second Flight바카라 report the aftermath of the ill-fated plane바카라s crash.

 바카라The Boeing바카라s tail section remained bizarrely perched atop the mess, as if frozen in time. Its crumpled wings drooped like those of a grounded bird. Smoke curled up from the broken walls. The structure, though battered, hadn바카라t collapsed. We tilted the camera upwards. The scene was as surreal as it was brutal.바카라 

Avantika Mehta writes about allegations against Air India for ignoring safety concerns raised by its pilots who have since been terminated from service. 

With this issue, Outlook Magazine is also introducing a regular columnist, Saiyyad Mohammad Nizamuddin Pasha. The Delhi based lawyer will be writing in the column 바카라Yahaan Ka Ulta Hai Nizam바카라. 

In 바카라Justice as Performance바카라, Pasha chronicles the phenomenon of live streaming court proceedings, the biases of judges and the public debate around it.

바카라The judicial system, in any case, places upon them the burden of rising above those biases바카라by no means an easy task. Add to that a live audience that is baying for its own vigilante idea of justice to be delivered, an idea that the judge intuitively shares, but must strive to rise above, and it becomes more and more unrealistic to expect judicial outcomes that are indifferent to the expectations of the audience.바카라

In a world veering toward chaos, each flashpoint feels like a countdown. This issue of Outlook Magazine maps the fires 바카라 before they become the new normal.

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