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Ever since Israel took out Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh, the world has been waiting for Iran to retaliate. Iranian officials have threatened and blustered, with a lack of follow through. The United States and foreign mediators are maintaining pressure on Iran to delay an attack targeting Israel, by threatening Iran. US, Israeli, and Iranian officials cited by the New York Times on August 16 said that Iran is expected to delay its retaliatory strike during Israel- Hamas ceasefire negotiations. Is this the real reason Iran has not struck Israel directly? President Biden said that he “expects” that Iranian leaders will delay or indefinitely postpone a strike if a ceasefire agreement is reached.

It is widely known that the Iranian regime punishes and murders citizens who criticize the regime. How, then, do Iranian intellectuals inside Iran see the conflicts post-assasination of Ismaiel Haniya? How are they are justifying the actions of Iran regarding the possible strike to Israel?

About our Speaker: Hussain Ehsani is an independent researcher based in Ottawa, Canada. He holds a Master’s degree from University of Tehran, in Middle East studies. His concentration was on the independence of Kurdistan and the regional security of Middle East. Ehsani previously worked in Iraq researching terrorist groups, specifically ISIS and Al Qaeda. In Afghanistan, Ehsani worked for the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, at the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies where he wrote a book with Sean Withington, called Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan: Phoney Caliphate or Bona Fide Province?
After the US withdrew from Afghanistan, he fled to Canada where he now covers the the war in Gaza. Hussain Ehsani is fluent in Farsi, Arabic and knows Kurdish and Pashto.