In Hezbollah-Israel conflict, Iran big winner
My Heritage Foundation colleague Peter Brookes NY Post OpEd today explains why Tehran merges from the Hezbollah-Israel conflict as the real winner:
Think about it: Using its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, Iran was able to lash out at arch-enemy Israel, causing the Israeli Defense Forces to fight a two-front war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Tehran also benefits from the severe damage done to America’s public image in the Muslim world, where Washington was (inaccurately) seen as supporting - and directing - the destruction of not Hezbollah, but Lebanon.
Iran was able to divert a lot (but not all) of world attention from its still-active nuclear (weapons) program, too, giving it plenty of breathing room to continue to enrich uranium for nukes with impunity.
The Israel-Hezbollah war also put any prospects of advancing the Middle East peace process between Israel and the Palestinians - a concept the mullahs have long opposed - into a deep freeze.
The conflict unsteadied global oil markets, pushing prices to record levels. The price spike has been filling Tehran’s coffers and keeping the poorly managed Iranian economy afloat.
All in all, surveying the strategic landscape in the aftermath of the war, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and senior cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be darned pleased with themselves.