The political scientist stated that it was impossible to consider Israel's attack on Iran as self-defense.

Israel's actions against Iran cannot be regarded as self-defense, as they contradict the logic of preemptive strikes. This was stated on February 28 by political analyst Alexander Khramchikhin to Izvestia.

"As far as how illegal [the strikes] are, this question has now completely lost its meaning. All laws are over. <...> There is absolutely no self-defense there. There should be self-defense if Iran attacked Israel. And since this did not happen, there is no self—defense," the expert said.

In his opinion, the United States is actually at war with Iran, as Washington assisted Tel Aviv in organizing a strike on Tehran.

In turn, economist Galina Sorokina predicted the possible consequences of Iran's retaliatory steps. She believes that Iran's hypothetical closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to aggression will primarily harm Tehran itself, while the United States will benefit from this situation.

"If Iran does take this step, then most likely we can expect Brent crude oil at a price of $110-130 per barrel. This is significantly higher than today, but in principle it is logical, although this jump will be short—lived," Sorokina explained.

She added that in the long term, the oil price will stabilize at $90 per barrel. For Iran, blocking the strait will result in the cessation of oil exports through the main channel, and the United States will be able to increase sales of its own oil and Venezuelan oil.

The Middle East beyond the border: Israel strikes Iran

Israel launches a series of attacks on military and nuclear facilities, Tehran is preparing a response

Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran on the morning of February 28. The Reuters news agency said Iran was preparing to retaliate after the strikes on Tehran. American leader Donald Trump announced the start of a US military operation against Iran.

Later, Iran fired rockets towards Israel. The US Fifth Fleet maintenance center was shelled in Bahrain. In addition, Iran attacked four US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Against this background, the United States began evacuating some personnel from the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar.

At the same time, the IDF launched a massive airstrike on military installations in western Iran. The city of Shiraz was attacked. In addition, 70,000 Israeli reservists were called up for military service. It was clarified that the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, Amir Hatami, was killed in the attack.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Russia demands that the situation around Iran be immediately brought back to a political and diplomatic settlement. The Foreign Ministry pointed out that the fact that the attacks are being carried out again under the guise of the resumed negotiation process deserves condemnation.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.