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Israel, which is currently waging a war in the Gaza Strip that has killed tens of thousands since October, has provoked Iran with attacks in April as well as recently. Iran has said it plans to retaliate as the US continues to stock Israel with military arms.

Fears of a regional war in the Middle East have been growing since the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an attack on his residence in Tehran. Just hours prior, Israel also struck south Beirut and killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for the assassination and have vowed retaliation.

Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Tuesday to discuss the tension in the Middle East, and how the West has been playing a role in that tension by fortifying their support for Israel.

“The Israelis, when they bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 12 people, the expectation, of course, for the international community was universal condemnation. But when Iran took its complaint to the UN Security Council, the US, France, and Britain supported - and so did the Germans, supported the Israeli regime. So, the message that the West was saying was that the embassies are fair game,” Marandi explained.

“Thus, the Iranians recognized that the only way to force the regime to think twice and to 'create deterrence' was to strike it directly, and that's why in April Iran did attack the Israeli regime. That deterrence worked for two, three months, but, apparently, it's not enough because of the assassination in Tehran,” the educator added. “That was a violation of Iranian sovereignty, that was a crime. That was a violation of international law.”

“So Iran will definitely strike. It will strike very hard,” he continued. “...if the Israeli regime tries to retaliate or tries to strike back after the retaliation, Iran will punish it again. At the end of the day, the only way in which this will end is under circumstances where the Israeli regime recognizes that attacking Iran is not worth it.”

“I am sure that there is full coordination with the collective Axis of Resistance - Yemen, Hezbollah, Iraq, and Syria, as well as the Palestinians. And, therefore, it's going to be something that the Israeli regime will have to be worried about, this collective response. Now, I don't know what that means exactly,” Marandi responded. “But it could happen at any time.”

“The Iranians so far, they've been playing psychological warfare with the Israelis, putting pressure on the regime, canceling flights, canceling all sorts of ordinary events that would take place in that entity. And when the time is right and when the Iranians feel that their defenses are down, Iran will strike hard,” he added.

The White House released a joint statement on Monday in which the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy spoke on the current situation in the Middle East. The Western leaders expressed their “full support” for ongoing efforts to “de-escalate tensions and reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza”.

The joint statement added that “unfettered delivery and distribution of aid is needed” and that they will support the “defense of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups”. These Western nations also called on Iran to “stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place.”

“The US and the European leaders, American and European leaders, are guilty as much as the Israeli regime. It's under normal circumstances with normal countries, and these are, of course, abnormal regimes. In normal countries, the condemnation would be directed towards the aggressor,” Marandi explained. “The US, France, and Britain, when the Israeli regime bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, they supported the regime.”

“So, this simply reinforces the logic of Iran, that Iran must punish the regime. Because when the US and the Europeans fail to criticize, let alone condemn the regime, and blame Iran for this situation, then that means you're on your own. You have to punish the Israelis yourself,” he added.

“So this is all just dishonesty and corruption and it's going to lead to a very painful situation because the Americans and the Europeans, by supporting the Zionists throughout this genocide and the aggressions on Lebanon, Syria and Iran, it is going to lead the region towards a major crisis, and that crisis could be hours away.”

On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Russia in preparation for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders are expected to discuss developing bilateral cooperation and will exchange views on the situation in the Middle East in light of the escalating Palestinian-Israeli conflict and unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the region, Sputnik reported.

Putin said on Tuesday that Russia is monitoring the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine with “great pain and anxiety”. Abbas added that the US has failed to create a Palestinian state due to US pressure.