By Athena Papakosta

The deck of developments for the Middle East has been shuffled and now we are counting four ignition points each of which could lead to a wider and more deadly conflict at this very point on the map.

The last and important development was the twin explosions in the Kerman region, southeast to Iran with at least 103 dead and more than 188 injured. According to analysts, it would make absolutely no sense if Israel is behind the carnage. It is easy to see that it is already quite “busy”.

At the same time, developments after the extermination of Saleh al-Aruri in the heart of Lebanon they run, dangerously. Hamas may already be at war with Israel, but everyone is interested to know what the reaction will be from the country’s Shiite, Tehran-backed Hezbollah, which is based in the country and has so far been limited to exchanging fire from a distance with the Israeli Armed Forces. on the border line that separates the two countries.

They are not absent from the map of… fire Yemen’s Houthi rebels –also Iran’s allies – who show no sign of backing down and stopping missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

And of course there is Gaza where Israel promises to continue its operations for many more months, despite the fact that Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative, also underlined that “if this tragedy does not end soon, the whole Middle East could end up in flames” adding that “the solution must be imposed from the outside because the two parties will never be able to reach an agreement”.

Washington is worried

The American government does not hide its intense concern about the risk of ignition in the wider region. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stressed that he could offer no assessment of who was responsible for the killing of Hamas’s number two, Saleh Al-Arouri, in the Beirut area, while clarifying that Washington had not been informed in advance of the attack. business in question.

As for the claims that the United States is behind the explosions in Kerman, Miller called them “ridiculous” adding that there is no reason why Israel is also behind them.

Fury in Tehran

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called yesterday’s attack near the tomb of General Qassem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his death, a “cowardly and despicable act” adding that “there is no doubt that the perpetrators (…) will be identified soon and be punished”. At the same time, the supreme leader of the country, Ali Khamenei, promised a “harsh response” underlining that “the diabolical criminals and enemies of the Iranian nation have once again caused destruction and turned a large number of our fellow citizens into martyrs.”

Hezbollah message

At the same time, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, characterizing the attack on a Beirut neighborhood that caused the death of the deputy leader of Hamas as a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s integrity, made it clear that “if Israel goes to war in Lebanon there will be no limit, no rules to Hezbollah’s response.” He added that Israel “will regret it” and reiterated that if there is any attempt to wage war against Lebanon “the battle will be without limits and without rules”.

Also referring to the explosions in Iran, Nasrallah said that those who paid tribute to General Soleimani’s tomb were “targeted”, while he also spoke about the Houthis of Yemen, praising their actions in the Red Sea.

Final letter of 12 countries

As reports mount that the Biden administration is considering strikes against the Houthi rebels if the attacks continue, the United States and its 11 other allied countries are calling on the rebels to stop their “immediately unlawful attacks” on ships in the Red Sea, warning that they would otherwise suffer the “consequences” with the situation in the Red Sea expected to be at the center of debate at the UN Security Council due to meet later in the day.