Clearly deliberate – Sanam Vakil on Iran denying Israel’s attack on Supreme Leader’s birthday

The director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, Dr Sanam Vakil, has said it was good that Iran is denying the retaliatory attack on its territory by Israel.

Israel carried out a reported strike on Isfahan on Thursday.

The attack, according to reports, was similarly targeted on a military site and calibrated to avoid damage and further Iranian aggression.

Speaking about the development, according to the Guardian UK, Vakil said, “As long as Iran continues to deny the attack and deflect attention from it and no further hits are seen, there is space for both sides to climb down the escalation ladder for now.”

According to her, the strike’s timing, on the birthday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, was deliberate and symbolic by Israel.