Major clash between Israel, Iran averted but the Middle East remains a powder keg

epa11288248 Iranians carrying placards and portraits of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini wave Iranian and Palestinian flags during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 19 April 2024. Iranian state media reported that three aerial objects were destroyed by air defense systems over the central city of Isfahan early morning on 19 April. The explosions come after a drone and missile attack carried by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) towards Israel on 13 April, following an airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria which Iran claimed was conducted by Israel. EPA-EFE/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

People attending an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, on April 19.

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

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Jonathan Eyal

LONDON – A gift, a warning or just a coincidence? The April 19 Israeli strike on Iran came on the same day Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, celebrated his 85th birthday.

But this is about the only ironic twist in what otherwise remains a grim Middle Eastern security landscape.

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Middle East

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