Iran may have played into Israel and the United States’ hands by firing drones and missiles at Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Beyond risking sucking Turkey and Azerbaijan into the Iran war, the attacks could boost efforts to spark ethnic uprisings in Iran, even though US President Donald Trump, in an apparent 180-degree turn-around, this weekend threw cold water on initial Israeli and US plans to encourage ethnic insurgencies.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr. Trump said he had “ruled out” encouraging Kurdish groups from entering the fight with the Iranian government. “They’re willing to go in, but we really—I’ve told them I don’t want them to go in. The war is complicated enough without having, getting the Kurds involved,” Mr. Trump said.

It was unclear if Mr. Trump’s about face would force Israel, to fall into line. Israel has maintained long-standing relations with Iranian Kurdish and other armed ethnic groups in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian attack came as US and Israeli warplanes targeted military, security, and intelligence bases in a swath of land that stretches from the Azerbaijan-Iran border to Kurdish-populated areas near Iraq.

Twenty per cent of all bombings have focussed on Kurdish and Azeri areas of Iran.

Mr. Trump’s turn-around appeared to be at odds with the pattern of Israeli and US bombings, which potentially create an environment conducive to ethnic insurgencies, starting with Kurdish and Azeri-populated areas.

The bombing campaign “suggests the (Israeli and US) intent is to facilitate Iranian government loss of control in restive regions of Iran,” insisted Robert S. Ford, a former US ambassador to Algeria and Syria.

James discusses the Iran war, oil, Yemen on Radio Islam.

The Middle East tinderbox was struck ablaze on Saturday when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran. How might this conflict shape the power dynamics in Tehran as well as the broader region? BFM 89.9 discusses the stakes at play with Middle East expert Dr. James M. Dorsey.

Iran is challenging the might-is-right cornerstone of Donald Trump’s foreign policy by refusing to bow to the US president’s demands and fighting a war that within hours expanded across the Middle East.

In doing so, Iran is going where no other country, including Venezuela and NATO ally Denmark has been willing to go when threatened with military force if they did not accept Mr. Trump’s demands.

Iran was betting that Mr. Trump would want a quick strike against Iran that would not entangle the United States in a protracted conflict and potentially force it to put boots on the ground.

It was a miscalculation. Nevertheless, it was a risk Iran willingly shouldered.

Joined by Israel in the attack on Iran, Mr. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have suggested that regime change was the attack’s goal. Mr. Trump has acknowledged that achieving that goal could involve protracted hostilities in which US troops may be killed.

Mr. Khamenei was killed on the first day of the US and Israeli strikes. So were other officials, including the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed by Mr. Khamenei.

Even so, it would be premature for the United States and Israel to declare victory. Mr. Khamenei’s death does not mean the collapse of the regime.

James discusses on Radio Islam the Iranian-US standoff, Iran’s ethnic challenges and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel.

James discusses on BFM 89.9 the prospects for a diplomatic path to prevent US-Iranian tensions from boiling over.

James discusses on Radio Islam the prospects of a US military attack on Iran, the fallout of the dispute between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Africa, and Israeli support for the UAE in its Washington-focused war of words with the kingdom.

James discusses on CNA938 what this week’s Board of Peace meeting in Washington means for Gaza and US President Donald Trump’s ambition to control, if not replace the United Nations as the worlds’ foremost peacemaker.

It’s crunch time when Donald Trump’s Board of Peace meets in Washington this week to finalise the implementation of the second phase of the president’s Gaza ceasefire plan.

James discusses on Radio Islam this week’s anxiously awaited White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, next week’s Board of Peace gathering in Washington focussed on Gaza, and the future of US-Israeli military relations.