On August 18 (Moscow time), TASS news agency quoted Lieutenant General Apty Alaudinov - Deputy Director of the Political - Military Department of the Russian Armed Forces and Commander of the Special Forces Akhmat - as saying that the conflict in the Middle East could lead to Israel no longer existing as a nation.
We must realize that the conflict in the Middle East will continue to escalate. I think this is Israel's goal: to push the conflict to the highest possible level and draw the US and the entire NATO bloc into the process. They are quite good at this. In the end, they will overestimate their strength and no longer exist as a nation," Mr. Alaudinov said.
Mr. Alaudinov's statement gave a hypothetical scenario: If the conflict continues to expand and Israel overestimates its capabilities, those developments could lead to serious consequences, related to Israel's survival.
The US and Israel began a military campaign against Iran from February 28. By June, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on immediately ending hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.
However, on the night of July 8, the US resumed large-scale airstrikes against Iran, accusing Tehran of violating agreements related to the Strait of Hormuz.
On August 2, US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to cancel a plan to carry out a large-scale attack on Iran to seek an agreement with this country.
Mr. Trump said Tehran and Arab capitals have asked the US not to carry out the attack, in the context that the parties have agreed on the basic contents of a future agreement.
This assessment was made in the context of military tensions in the Middle East continuing to develop complicatedly. Israel has not yet commented on the above statement.
