Caught in a Bind: Iran in the Wake of the Gaza Conflict

By : Kingshuk Chatterjee

Page No: 79-97

Abstract
Tehran’s influence in the Middle East has continued to rise with the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza. However, even as Tehran advances, it appears to be caught in a bind. While its biggest regional adversary is veritably tied down by the limits of its ethnocratic state system, the Islamic Republic of Iran too appears to have reached the limits of asymmetric warfare with the increasing danger that it may be sucked into a bigger regional conflict. This article argues that the overt manifestation of the shadow warfare which Tehran and Tel Aviv had been waging for the last several years has potentially made the neighbourhood far more dangerous than before. The Gaza conflict has pushed Iran, as much as Israel, into a bind. Iran risks being drawn into a regional war, neutralising all the advantages gained so far, and one that might even endanger its regime security. The article also assesses where India fits in this tense stand-off between its two partners in a period of instability and conflict.

Author:
Kingshuk Chatterjee : Dr. Kingshuk Chatterjee is a Professor in the Department of History, University of Calcutta. He specialises in the study of political developments in Iran.
 

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2024.07.02.1