Gen. David Petraeus said that Iran and its affiliate Hezbollah are unlikely to risk sparking a major conflict with Israel, given the force that it would meet.
Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Petraeus, the 67-year-old former head of U.S. Central Command, said that Iran fears that it would be beaten back with massive force should it try to start a war in the region.
“Iran will not risk a major war because it would put its survival at risk,” the general said according to the Jerusalem Post.
The general said that Russia would also likely work to temper Iran from actions that could further destabilize the Levant.
Petraeus resigned as President Barack Obama’s CIA chief in November 2012 after providing classified information to his mistress and biographer Paula Broadwell. He said Wednesday that Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, will also “not risk a full war” unless it is “pushed into a corner.”
Also speaking at the event was Gen. Joseph Votel, who led Central Command from 2016 to 2019. He pointed out the significance of the January drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Votel said that the Quds Force, Iran’s elite special operations unit that works to sow discord in the Middle East and supports a number of militias, “will not be the same” as it was under Soleimani’s leadership.
The 61-year-old former general also pointed out that the new Quds Force commander, Gen. Esmail Ghaani, does not have the same leadership and structural capabilities as Soleimani. He said that the military leader’s death helped reestablish deterrence between the United States and Iran.
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, 51, recently warned that Ghaani will meet “the same fate” as his predecessor if he continues Soleimani’s legacy of killing American troops.
