What Has Happened That Zarif Speaks of War?

"The possibility of war is not ruled out" and "the danger is high." These two short sentences were uttered by Mohammad Javad Zarif in two different contexts regarding Israel over the past week. The Iranian Foreign Minister, in an interview with the German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" published last Thursday, responded to the question of whether there is a possibility of military confrontation between Iran and Israel by saying: "I don’t know, but we cannot rule out this possibility." Just four days prior, at the Munich Security Conference, Mr. Zarif spoke about the likelihood of war, stating: "The danger is high, and if you continue to ignore the blatant violations of international law, this danger will increase." These remarks come at a time when Israel and its allies, including Europe and the United States, along with many Arab countries in the region, are increasingly criticizing the policies of the Islamic Republic in the region. What does this escalation in tone mean? Is the danger serious? What would the consequences be for each side in the event of a conflict? Why are Iranian officials speaking of a high risk of war? We will address these issues in this program. Severe government repression and the danger of protests becoming "underground"; what doctors and eyewitnesses recount about the injured from the protests; the revelation of limitations in China-Iran relations amidst the protests; summons and interrogation of cinema house managers and several filmmakers; accounts from three eyewitnesses of the massacre and the situation in several cities of Isfahan province; the death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis; Trump announced an agreement to hold a meeting about Greenland in Davos; Trump emphasized "stopping executions in Iran": we do not know what will happen in the future.