The Two-State Solution To Israel-Palestine Is Dead And Gone: Iranian Envoy 

Elahi, like most senior Iranian diplomats, is suave, soft spoken and appeared relaxed as he sat down with Outlook for a conversation at a critical juncture for his country. Iran is bracing for an Israeli attack, triggered by its ballistic missile strike on October 1바카라� which was in retaliation for the assassination of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and not for the killing of Hezbollah leaders, the ambassador insists. There is now a real possibility of an all-out war between Iran and Israel. The success of Israel바카라�s military campaign in eliminating more or less the entire leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah has emboldened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take on Iran. 

At the moment, Iran is very vulnerable, with the axis of resistance having taken a huge hit. In case a war breaks out, who can Iran depend on? 바카라�Iran + Iran + Iran,바카라� says Elahi, adding, 바카라�We rely on our people.바카라� He admits it is an 바카라�unequal conflict바카라� with Israel and the US ranged against Iran. But Elahi is unfazed: 바카라�We have learnt to defend ourselves.바카라� 

It is both an acknowledgment of Iran바카라�s strength and its weakness, as self-reliance has perforce become a necessity following the 1979 Iranian Revolution that marked the end of the US-backed Shah dynasty. 바카라�We have been under sanctions for more than 40 years. We have tried to make our economy resilient. We have learnt how to by-pass sanctions, we have no problem in earning money,바카라� says Elahi. Many countries continue to buy Iranian oil despite the never-ending sanctions. The ambassador notes: 바카라�India was a permanent purchaser of oil from Iran, but now not even a barrel of oil is bought by India. China lifts huge quantities and we are grateful.바카라� 

This is not the first time that Iran finds itself alone. It happened during the eight years of war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988). 바카라�The whole world was on one side; we were alone.바카라� All Arab neighbours of Iran had supported Saddam Hussein; so did the US. 바카라�Kuwait was sending hot meals for Iraqi soldiers then,바카라� the ambassador recalled. 바카라�We are nationalists, we will fight. Remember Vietnam. Who supports us, who does not, is of little relevance to Iran.바카라� 

Ambassador Elahi says technology has not been a problem as Iranian scientists, engineers and physicists are excellent. 바카라�Iranian scientists are very good. They (Israel) have long tried to hack our system, but could not succeed. Yes, Israel has assassinated several of our nuclear scientists, yet every time one is killed, several others emerge as replacements.바카라� He is also confident that Iran바카라�s nuclear facility deep in the mountains cannot be penetrated by enemy missiles. 

But the Iranian system has been penetrated by Israel. After Haniyeh was killed at a Tehran guest house, no less a person than former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran바카라�s intelligence service, tasked with keeping an eye on Mossad, was compromised. The ambassador says, 바카라�This is natural; every system, every country has spies.바카라� 

The ambassador acknowledged that there has always been a move by interested parties to separate Iran from the Arabs. But the Shia-Sunni rivalry no longer holds. 바카라�Iran바카라�s support to Palestine has made Iran popular in the region.바카라� He pointed out that when Haniya, a Sunni, was assassinated in Tehran, Iranian people mourned his 바카라�martyrdom바카라� and came out in large numbers to attend his funeral. 

Though the envoy did not say as much, it is well known that Arab nations, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, have been playing footsie with Israel much before the Abraham Accords, which led to the UAE and Bahrain normalising ties with Israel, followed by Sudan and Morocco. Saudi Arabia was next in line, but since Israel바카라�s war on Gaza, following the October 7 Hamas attack, the move has been on hold. Though the powerful Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS as he is commonly called, is keen on maintaining ties with Israel, the support of his people in the bazaars and streets of the Arab world for the Palestinians has made Riyadh push the pause button. 

The Two-State Solution Is Buried 

The ambassador believes that the two-state solution is now dead and gone. 바카라�There is no room now for the Palestinians, they have nowhere to go. The eradication of the Palestinians from their land has long been the dream of the Zionists.바카라� 

According to the ambassador, Hamas attacked after it got wind of Israel바카라�s plan to redraw the boundaries of the country and grab Palestinian land for a Greater Israel. While speaking at the UN General Assembly in September 2023, Netanyahu spoke of the new peace initiative brought on by the Abraham Accords to show how Israel wanted to live in peace with its Arab neighbours. He boasted of Israel바카라�s growing relations with the Arab world. But he also held up a map of Israel that placed the West Bank and Gaza as well as Syria바카라�s occupied Golan Heights within the boundaries of the sovereign state. Israel was highlighted in blue. 

바카라�Some people believe that the starting point of the current crisis is October 7, but those who are familiar with the history of the region are aware that it goes a long time back바카라�to 1947-48바카라�when Israel was established. And even before that when Jews entered Palestine and grabbed large tracts of land and settled there by force. Remember the Nakba of 1948, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Zionists.

At the same time, there was resistance by the people of Palestine as well as by Lebanon, Egypt and Syria,바카라� Elahi said. He went on to explain the wars that Arab countries fought and their staunch support for the people of Palestine in the early years. 바카라�It is up to the leaders to judge what the starting point was; it is not October 7.바카라� 

Change The Geopolitics Of The Region 

바카라�We should go behind the current development. It is a big plan designed by the US and is being implemented by Israel to change the geopolitics of the region. Israel바카라�s action in Gaza after the Hamas attack was not just to punish terrorists바카라�not just to punish Hamas바카라�but to work on a larger plan,바카라� Elahi said.

He said the plan was in the making for a couple of years and was not whisked out of the blue. 바카라�There are different elements in the reshaping of the region. The first was the normalisation of Israel바카라�s relations with its Arab neighbours, which resulted in the Abraham Accords. The creation of the terror group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was again an attempt to disrupt the old equation in the region. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was aimed with this in mind,바카라� said Elahi. But the best-laid plans often misfire.

The ISIL was born during the civil war in Iraq with a mandate to attack the Shia populace. But it also attacked the US military that was stationed in Iraq. The group could not be controlled by the masters and took a different form, posing a threat to the West as well as to rulers of the region. 바카라�The Taliban was created and designed by the US; financed by the Saudis; and, implemented by Pakistan.바카라�바카라� said Elahi. It is a fact that in 1995, the US, especially under the US Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel, was keen on building the Taliban in its early days. 

바카라�We are not fighting for the Hezbollah. According to our assessment, Hezbollah will look after itself. Hezbollah is a political party in Lebanon. It has representatives in Parliament; three ministers in the cabinet. It has a military wing, to defend itself and the Shia community in Lebanon. Our action on October 1 was not for Hezbollah, but for the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran바카라�on Iranian soil and it is against our sovereignty. The earlier action in July was against the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus,바카라� said Elahi.

The envoy spoke of peace efforts that have so far failed and he personally believes that India can play a role. 바카라�India as a rising power can play a role. It is up to it. My question to India is: how Indians, who respect animals and have concern for plants, can bear to see the killing and starvation of infants.바카라�