"As close to the abyss as you can get"

Israel

The expert: "Now we are close to the abyss"

Knut Sahlin Ekberg

Updated 14.00 | Published 10.43

During the night, Iran attacked Israel with drones and robots.

What will happen now is unclear.

- We are as close to the abyss as we can get, says Iran expert Rouzbeh Parsi.

Quick version

• Iran has attacked Israel with drones and robots overnight, marking rising tensions between the two countries.
• The world is now waiting for Israel's response, which will determine whether the situation escalates into a war, according to experts.
• Yesterday, an Israeli-owned ship was also attacked by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, intensifying the situation.

Now the world is waiting for a reaction from Israel. What it will be is currently unclear.

The fact that Iran chose to attack during the night indicates that it does not want too many civilian casualties. Anders Persson, Israel connoisseur and political scientist at Linnaeus University, explains this in an interview with TT.

- Children are not in school, less people are out and such. It is a sign that Iran wants to mark rather than escalate, he says.

But he emphasizes that it is unclear.

- We also don't know if this is the start of a larger attack or if this is all we will see, Anders Persson told TT.

The attack did not surprise him.

- All warning lights have flashed red, he says.

Rouzbeh Parsi is program manager at the Middle East and North Africa program at the Institute for Foreign Policy. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

Rouzbeh Parsi is an expert on Iran and researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute. What determines whether a war now occurs depends entirely on how Israel will act, he believes.

- If the Iranians and the Americans get what they want, Israel will not respond. But I'm not sure how many in the Israeli government are not interested in retaliation, he tells Aftonbladet.

There are those in the military who think it cannot go unanswered.

- Restraint is not really part of Israel's defense doctrine.

A helicopter hovered above deck and masked men were winched down. Photo: AP

During yesterday, an Israeli-owned ship was also attacked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Shortly after the boarding, the Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, commented on the incident.

- Iran will have to face consequences for choosing to escalate the situation further, he said on Saturday, according to Sky News.

Drone or missile fired at targets in northern Israel on Sunday night. Photo: Atef Safadi/EPA Via TT

Rouzbeh Parsi describes that two possible scenarios could play out after the night's attack.

- One is that Iran has shown that it can attack Israel and thereby restored its own credibility. And if the Americans can somehow get Israel to not respond to the attack, it pretty much ends here. But if the Israelis don't accept what happened, this is the beginning of something much, much bigger.

If a full-scale war had developed, however, Israel would have had to reprioritize its military operations, explains Rouzbeh Parsi.

- Then Gaza will not be a priority. The main line will be the northern front against Hezbollah. They have a military capability that exceeds any other threat that Israel has direct contact with.

The situation is serious, according to him.

- Now we are as close to the abyss as we can get. Now we wait to see if this will be the start of an avalanche, or if everyone realizes the danger and retreats.

Anders Persson, Israel connoisseur and lecturer in political science at Linnaeus University in Växjö. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT