"Israel and Iran might be on the verge of coming to blows" is not the most surprising story in the world, but trust us: The outlook right now is especially not good.
The war of words between Israel and Iran is intensifying. The rhetoric comes at a time when the nuclear talks in Vienna to stop Iran's nuclear program seem stalled.
When Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently, he reportedly presented a timeline for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program and told Lloyd Israel is "preparing for the Iranian challenge at the operational level."
This week the state-affiliated Tehran Times boasted in an article called "Just One Wrong Move!" that Iran can hit Israel anywhere. To drive home the point, they included a map showing targets Iran had already selected throughout Israel.
That's some serious saber-rattling.
I mean look at the image at the top of this article -- that's a real front-page headline and image from the Tehran Times.
Most of Israel, meanwhile, seems more than prepared to go it alone:
Israelis seem prepared for what might be coming. According to a recent poll, over half of Israelis would favor a military strike against Iran even without U.S. help.
Over half!
An exchange between Israel and Iran would be bad news not just for those two countries but for the entire region as well: Both countries are iron-willed and will not respond kindly to any sort of incursion or offense.
Doubtlessly any sort of sustained conflict would pull in countless other nations on one side or the other—including the U.S.—which would further ratchet up global tensions and risk more instability and conflict.
