I do not think we are heading towards a new world war!
This opinion was expressed to the Bulgarian National Radio by international analyst Martin Tabakov, a doctor of political science from the National University of Bulgaria, specifying:
"Iran does not have such allies who would risk their own interests to support the Iranian regime in order to further scale up the US antagonism, also directed at Tehran's allies. ... If such an attack were to begin, it would not come as an occasion from the Middle East. There are other points in the world that have a more serious charge and the ability to attract larger forces, for example - Taiwan".
The involvement of the US with offensive strikes on Iran complicates this conflict, he pointed out.
According to him, Iran's real response is yet to come:
"Unlike the barrages so far, which Iran has been launching against Israel on a daily basis, this case is about a relatively serious breach of the Israeli missile shield. I doubt that this is Iran's response to the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities tonight, because the number of Iranian ballistic missiles launched is the same as before".
According to Martin Tabakov, it is unrealistic to expect Iran to sit at the negotiating table now:
"It seems more realistic to me that Iran would initiate some form of military response, which could be symbolic - a pro forma launch of Iranian missiles at an American base in the region, the easiest to target being the US bases in Iraq. This attempted military response would be Iran's attempt to restore its position in this conflict. But it is possible that Iran will approach it more ambitiously and add a call to the entire Shiite community in the region to join this conflict. This could happen if Iran feels cornered and Ayatollah Khamenei issues a religious edict calling for a form of holy war against the Americans. If that happens, the points of contact for this conflict will become more complicated, because until now it has been developing in a cassational way - between Israel and Iran.