Dr. Raz Zimmt to IMRA: Iran's policy towards Israel not expected to be

Dr. Raz Zimmt to IMRA: Iran’s policy towards Israel not expected to be
changed by domestic protests
Follow up on:
Iran’s fuel riots: a snapshot and initial significance
By Dr. Raz Zimmt – INSS
https://bit.ly/2NWybcd

From: Dr. Aaron Lerner
18 November 2019
Subject: Question for you – Iran’s fuel riots: a snapshot and initial
significance

Hi,

Very interesting article.

One question – under normal circumstances one would expect the temptation to
be great to deflect the public’s attention from domestic problems by having
an active conflict with Israel via their agents.

But today the protestors are specifically citing the funding of Hizbullah as
a source of the economic problems and calling for Iran NOT to devote
resources to the struggle against the Jewish State.

So – from Israel’s standpoint, how does this change our assessment of the
situation vis-à-vis how it impacts us?

Best regards,
Dr. Aaron Lerner – IMRA www.imra.org.il
PS: I would like to share your response with IMRA readers

From: Raz Zimmt
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2019 11:37 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Question for you – Iran’s fuel riots: a snapshot and initial
significance

Dear Dr. Lerner,

Thank you for your email.

I don’t think Iran has any interest in engaging itself in an active conflict
with Israel because it fully realizes its potentially dire consequences for
both its economy and security interests. Iran has usually tried to limit its
conflict with Israel to the use of proxies without getting directly involved
in a full-scale confrontation with Israel.

On the other hand, Iran considers its continued support for its proxies and
partners in the region, including Hizballah and the Palestinian
organizations as the core of its regional strategy both from ideological
point of view (considering its support as its revolutionary and religious
responsibility) also from its national interests aimed to expand its
regional influence and to deter its rivals, including Israel. Therefore,
despite public reservations concerning Iranian resources devoted to the
struggle against Israel (which are, by the way, nothing new, as we have seen
those voices in almost every wave of protests in Iran since late 1990s), I
see no reason to believe that Iran will change its policy towards Israel or
reconsider its support for its regional proxies.

Best regards,

Dr. Raz Zimmt

INSS

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IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il