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Saudi Arabia sees opportunity as Israel takes on Hezbollah and weighs retaliation against Iran

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  Mohammad Ali al-Husseini. Credit: WAM By James M. Dorsey Hi, if you value independent, fact-based analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers help ensure the survival of The Turbulent World’s unvarnished journalism. You can contribute by clicking on Substack on the subscription button at  http://jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of  the subscription options.    To watch a video version of this story   or  listen to a n audio podcast click  here .     Thank you for your support and loyalty.    Mohammad Ali al-Husseini personifies the complexity of escalating tensions tearing the Middle East apart. A onetime associate of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader Israel killed, Mr. Al-Husseini, a Lebanese Shiite cleric, has emerged as a controversial figure in Saudi efforts to counter Iran and its allies by making inroads into non-Saudi Shiite Muslim communities, particularly in Lebanon. Mr. Al-Husseini’s renewed Saudi media appearances suggest continu

Iran’s networked defense strategy is a double-edged sword

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  Binyamin Netanyahu (left) and Hassan Nasrallah (right). Credit: DNYUZ By James M. Dorsey Hi, if you value independent, fact-based analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers help ensure the survival of The Turbulent World’s unvarnished journalism. You can contribute by clicking on Substack on the subscription button at  http://jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of  the subscription options.  To read further, listen to the podcast, or watch the video click here. To watch a video version of this story   or  listen to a n audio podcast click  here .  Thank you for your support and loyalty.  Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has turned Iran’s asymmetric forward defense strategy into a double-edged sword. The killing came on the heels of the assassination in July in Tehran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, multiple body blows to Hezbollah, and the death of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Brigadier Gene
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  James M. Dorsey on ABC RN: Late Night Live   Israel has killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a targeted bombing attack on Beirut. Many of Hezbollah's weapons caches have also been destroyed. An estimated 1000 people have been killed over the past two weeks and up to one million people may be  internally displaced across Lebanon. Will this coordinated attack finally mean the end of Hezbollah?   Guest: James M. Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and host of The Turbulent World podcast To listen to the podcast, click on https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com/p/will-hezbollah-crumble-without-nasrallah

Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader is unlikely to shift the paradigm of Middle East politics

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  By James M. Dorsey Hi, if you value independent, fact-based analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers help ensure the survival of The Turbulent World’s unvarnished journalism. You can contribute by clicking on Substack on the subscription button at  http://jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of  the subscription options.  To watch a video version of this story   or  listen to a n audio podcast click  here .  Thank you for your support and loyalty.  Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to discover that the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will not shift the paradigm of Middle East politics. It’s a lesson Mr. Netanyahu should have drawn from decades of Israeli targeted assassinations. Mr. Nasrallah joined a long list of leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and an assortment of others, including Iranian nuclear scientists, targeted by Israel. 

Iranian President floats rare Israeli trial balloon

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  By James M. Dorsey Hi, if you value independent, fact-based analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers help ensure the survival of The Turbulent World’s unvarnished journalism. You can contribute by clicking on Substack on the subscription button at  http://jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of  the subscription options.    To watch a video version of this story   or  listen to a n audio podcast click   here .    Thank you for your support and loyalty.    It will take a lot more to convince Israel and its supporters that newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian means business and can deliver on his proposal to dial down tensions between the two countries.   “Let’s create a situation where we can co-exist. Let’s try to resolve tensions through dialogue,” Mr. Pezeshkian said as hostilities between Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia, and Israel escalated, threatening to draw Iran into a regional war. Speaking to journalis