Has Israel-Hezbollah missile fire averted a wider conflict? Top US general thinks so...

The top US general has said that the immediate risk of a full-scale war in the Middle East has declined — for now.

In an interview with Reuters at the end of a three-day visit to the Middle East, Air Force General CQ Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that two things were supposed to happen in the region and one of them has already happened, so the immediate risk of a regional war has declined.

Brown was speaking following the biggest exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah on Sunday. Employing around 100 warplanes, Israel struck around 40 Hezbollah sites and the terrorist group also fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.

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Brown said, “You had two things you knew were going to happen. One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out…How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not.”

Brown was referring to the declarations by Hezbollah and Iran to avenge the assassinations of Faud Shukr and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh respectively. Both Hezbollah military chief Shukr and Hamas chief Haniyeh were killed within hours on July 30. While Shukr was killed in an airstrike in Beirut, Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran.

The Iran’s vow of revenge has led to fears that any attack and subsequent Israeli response could lead to an escalatory spiral that could plunge the Middle East into an all-out war.

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Does Iran want war?

Even as Iran has vowed to avenge Haniyeh’s assassination and there have been reports that preparations for an attack have been made, Brown said it does not appear that Iran wants a broader war.

“They want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think … don’t want to do something that’s going to create a broader conflict,” said Brown to Reuters.

Calling Yemen-based Houthis as a “wild card”, Brown also said that, in addition to Iran and Hezbollah, other militant allies in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Yemen also pose a risk.

As for the preparations against any attack, Brown said “we are better postured” after US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin ordered the maintenance of two aircraft carrier groups in the Middle East and deployed another squadron of F-22 warplanes.

“We try to improve upon what we did in April,” said Brown further, referring to the collective defence of Israel against the Iranian attack.

In April, Iran attacked Israel for the first time ever with hundreds of missiles, drones, and rockets. Israel was joined by the United States, United Kingdom, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in beating back the Iranian attack. Following the eruption of the ongoing round of tensions, the United States has sought to revive the coalition for a similar defensive operation in case of an Iranian attack.