1) Yesterday, we were surprised by the attack of dozens of Iranian drones and missiles in the occupied territories of Israel which is likely to cause great tension between the enemies in the region.

2) According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IIRGC), the attack was carried out in response to Israel’s attack on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 which killed seven military officers, including two senior Iranian commanders.

3) Citing Article 51 of the UN Charter, Iran asserted that the republic has the right to defend itself following the Israeli attack in addition to “punish” Tel Aviv for not respecting the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

4) It is well known that Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus was a response to the death sentence imposed by Tehran to four agents of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad in the southeast of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan region.

5) Having said that, Iran’s attack yesterday is the culmination of the tension between the two countries that has been going on since donkey years.

6) Meanwhile, prompt action by the United Nations (UN) for all countries to stop the tension and war in the Middle East, especially in Gaza, should be taken immediately to prevent it from spreading to other regions.

7) It is because if this conflict is not contained properly, it is feared that it will influence more involvement of foreign countries to intervene and at the same time will trigger more wars and conflicts across the world.

8) Pyongyang, for example, will take advantage of the war in the Middle East to launch an attack on the Korean peninsula to eliminate the influence of the United States and the Western bloc.

9) Beijing, on the other hand, will mobilize a campaign to “retake” Taiwan more serious which was separated by the British from China in the past and the country will further tighten control over the South China Sea.

10) While the Russia-Ukraine war that has been going on for so long has high potential to spread to neighboring countries to fulfill Moscow’s desire to “take back” their colonies under the rule of the Soviet Union in the past.

11) Therefore, if the geopolitical conflict and tensions in the regions aforementioned takes place, it is possible to bring the world to the stage of the Third World War, which certainly will bring more destruction and ruin in the future. – April 14, 2024.

* Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz currently serves as senior manager at InvestPerak, Malaysia and serves as adjunct lecturer at University Technology Petronas.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.