The Iranian regime is still strong enough to survive politically, but too weak to go to extremes in the conflict with Israel. Middle East scholar Johannes Becke assesses current developments in an interview.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has often been prophesied to be doomed. Will the war with Israel be the final blow?
It is still too early to tell. In any case, it is a turning point in Middle East politics. It completes the process that we have seen in Israeli foreign policy since October 7: the elimination of the Iranian proxies, Hizbullah, Hamas and, to some extent, the Houthis. This blow came at the moment when everything that Iran had built up as a deterrent against an Israeli military strike was destroyed. It certainly means a huge loss of prestige for the Iranian regime. It shatters the Iranian self-image of a regional power with a claim to influence beyond its national borders.
![[Übersetzen nach: English]](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/f/csm_HfJS_Antrittsvorlesung_Engel_Michael_086_4689fbda40.jpg "[Übersetzen nach: English]")