From: slider@anashram.com   
      
   Amid increasing tensions in the Israel-Hamas war, former NATO commander   
   Admiral James Stavridis explained on Saturday how Iran could "spark a   
   wider conflict."   
      
   On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on   
   Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever   
   airstrikes on Gaza. As of Saturday, at least 1,400 people had been killed   
   in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli government.   
   More than 7,300 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, according to the   
   Gaza Health Ministry, the AP said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin   
   Netanyahu has said his country is "at war" and has cut off supplies of   
   food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza.   
      
   In an interview on MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show on Saturday, Stavridis   
   expressed how Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that is backed by Iran,   
   could escalate the intensifying conflict between Israel, Lebanon, and the   
   Middle East region.   
      
   "Someone asked me on an interview a couple days ago: 'What could spark a   
   wider conflict?' There is a one word answer, and it is Iran. Iran because   
   they control this evil creature they've created, Hezbollah, a Shiite   
   terrorist organization which is 10 times the size of Hamas down in Gaza.   
   Iran has created them, armed them, they have 130,000 surface missiles   
   poised to launch at Israel, if Iran chose to unleash those, we've got a   
   wider war," he said.   
      
   "Or Iran could choose to close the Strait of Hormuz, 35 percent of the   
   world's oil goes through there, we've got a wider war. The administration   
   is very focused on Iran," Stavridis said.   
      
   According to Reuters, since the Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts and market   
   observers have noted that the conflict could prompt the United States to   
   tighten sanctions on Iran, which may spur Tehran to take retaliatory   
   action against ships in the Strait in Hormuz.   
      
   "If the conflict broadens to include the closure of the Strait of   
   Hormuz—the world's busiest oil-shipping channel—it would shut down the   
   region's oil trade, supercharging oil prices," JP Morgan said in a note,   
   according to the news agency.   
      
   Meanwhile, there is still deep concern over Iran's role in supporting both   
   Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel, and threats of escalation from Tehran   
   over Israel's approaching ground offensive in Gaza.   
      
   As concerns grow, the House Foreign Affairs Committee said last week it is   
   drawing up legislation to give the go-ahead for U.S. military force in the   
   Middle East if Iranian-backed forces become involved in the ongoing   
   conflict between Israel and Hamas, the committee's chair has said.   
      
   "I hope I never have to mark this bill up," Representative Michael McCaul,   
   a Texas Republican, told CNN on Monday, adding lawmakers were drafting the   
   legislation "in the event that it's necessary."   
      
   "But we have a situation in the Middle East that's growing day by day with   
   intensity," he said. "And if Hezbollah gets involved, Iran has already   
   threatened...if IDF (Israel Defense Forces) goes into Gaza that they're   
   gonna come out."   
      
   Additionally, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS last week,   
   "We can't rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged some   
   way. We have to prepare for every possible contingency. That's exactly   
   what the president has done."   
      
   Although it is not clear if Iran will chose to escalate the conflict,   
   Stavridis said on Saturday that Marines are waiting and ready to support   
   Israel.   
      
   "I'll close with something you are not hearing on the microphones and that   
   is the sound of two aircraft carriers strike groups, 2,000 marines in the   
   waters off the coast of Lebanon, slicing through those waters and very   
   prepared to support Israel by striking Hezbollah, if Iran unleashes that   
   attack," he said.   
      
   https://www.newsweek.com/james-stavridis-explains-how-iran-could   
   escalate-israel-hamas-conflict-1838816   
      
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