Killing of Hamas Leader in Lebanon and Bombing in Iran Leaves Middle East on Edge
Twin blasts at a commemoration marking former Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani's death, has killed at least 84 people in the country's southeast. This came right after the assassination of Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi had to cancel his visit to Turkiye, where he would have held talks with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, most specifically about the situation in Gaza.
After the explosions in Kerman city, for which Daesh claimed responsibility, Erdogan said Turkiye supports Iran in its fight against terrorism, while Raisi told a crowd in Tehran that 'the Zionist regime will pay the price'. Both countries support Hamas in Israel's war on Gaza. Since the Palestinian resistance group carried out an incursion in Israeli cities on October 7, the US-backed nation has retaliated with air and ground attacks on the enclave, killing more than 22 thousand Palestinians. While Tel Aviv had vowed to kill Hamas leaders 'wherever they are', Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib says the country is afraid of being dragged into a wider regional war. And now, as the US and its allies have warned Yemen's Houthis - backed by Iran - for its attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, could there be even bigger threats ahead for the Middle East?
Guests:
Mahjoob Zweiri
Director of Gulf Studies Centre at Qatar University
Vehbi Baysan
Associate Professor at Ibn Haldun University