The well-known Middle East expert Maha Yahya has described Iran’s direct and massive attack on Israel as a turning point in the long-standing conflict between these two countries. “Frankly, we are on the edge of a dangerous abyss,” the director of the US think tank Carnegie Middle East Center told the US broadcaster CNN on Sunday. “We are no longer in a shadow or proxy war between these two countries.”
Yahya described the fact that Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel as a “huge escalation”. But she believes that “the Iranians knew that most of it would be stopped, that the US, Britain, France, Jordan and others would help shoot down the drones and missiles.” Most of the weapons were intercepted outside Israeli airspace. “So I think, frankly, I saw it as a major escalation step, but it was very much of a light show.”