PODCAST: Iran and Israel playing ‘chicken' amid ratcheting nuclear threat

Iran and Israel are on a knife edge of all-out war, amid a backdrop of nuclear weapons not off the table this time around, making it a more dangerous escalation than ever before.

Bessami Momani, an international relations expert, told the Eye for Iran podcast that the increased signs of Iranian nuclear weaponization is likely related to the greater tensions between Iran and Israel.

"Its' part of the psychological warfare," she said.

Iran International's exclusive reporting revealed that the Islamic Republic is planning on testing nuclear bomb detonators.

Three independent sources in Iran, who have chosen to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the information, told Iran International that the Iranian government has made significant progress in its nuclear program.

The war of words, and the potential use of nuclear weapons, is part of a conflict where each side pushes the boundaries to the brink of all-out war without ever crossing the threshold, said Momani.

Momani, who is a professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, said Iran and Israel are both engaged in a "game of chicken."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge against Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Iran-backed Hamas, in Tehran last month.

Haniyeh was in Iran attending the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president. Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement.

But despite the Islamic Republic's public threats to "punish" Israel, and the updates from Western intelligence, reporting of an 'imminent' direct attack by Iran, nothing of that nature has happened yet.

The first time Iran launched a direct strike on Israeli territory was on April 13 when it fired more than 300 missiles and drones at the Jewish state that were mostly intercepted by Israel and its allies. That attack happened nearly two weeks after a suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran's consulate building in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) officers, including two generals.

Momani said this is the closet we've ever gotten to nuclear warfare in the Middle East, and despite her believing it won't happen, she said the danger lies in radicals on both sides making a 'mistake.'

"Shadow wars can become hot wars very quickly when one little thing goes wrong."

"The fear is not so much that either side wants to completely go into a full out war, but the fear is that there is a mistake," she added.

Momani said Iran and Israel are both "rational" state actors but said both nations have "ideological" and "fanatical" members in government that could jeopardize the situation and turn it into "a hot war."

In this episode of the podcast Eye for Iran, Momani accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging out the war against Hamas and continuing a tit-for-tat with Iran to avoid potential prison time on corruption and hold onto power as long as possible.

Find out more about why Momani said Israel and Iran both have a vested interest in continuing what she coined "the game of chicken," and the potential consequences that could hurt innocent people caught in the middle by watching the full episode on YouTube or listening to on Spotify, Apple or Amazon.