“WE’VE not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since 1973, and arguably even before that,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last week (Jan 29) about the growing tensions between the United States and Iran as he referenced the Yom Kippur War.

Indeed, in recent months, the US and its allies have come under attack by radical Middle Eastern groups supported by Iran. These proxies of the Islamic republic have targeted American bases and troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan as well as US-owned ships in the Red Sea.

The US and its allies have retaliated with a series of air strikes, including against the Houthi militias in Yemen in response to ship attacks, and against targets in Syria and Iraq in response to a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.