After intervention from several Arab states, the United States has agreed to meet representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The meeting is scheduled for Friday and will take place in Oman.

It is safe to assume that the negotiations—if they proceed—will come to nothing, as the mullah regime will continue to refuse to bow to US demands, which would effectively spell the end of Islamic rule.

However, the executioners in Tehran are playing the same game they have played for decades: when the regime is in trouble, they propose negotiations in the hope of staving off unpleasant consequences.

While the diplomatic manoeuvring continues, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has once again threatened Israel with annihilation. Tehran is believed to have around 500 ballistic missiles capable of reaching the Jewish state. Each missile carries a one-and-a-half-tonne warhead, and several are said to be fitted with multiple warheads.

At the same time, there are reports that China is in the process of bolstering Iran’s air defences against a possible Israeli or American attack.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) remain on high alert, and the government convened an emergency meeting on Thursday.

The question is whether Israel can afford to stand idle in the face of repeated threats of an Iranian mass attack. There is little doubt that the Islamic regime would fire its missiles the moment it realises its days are numbered.

The main reason for Israel’s survival—surrounded as it is by enemies on all sides—is that successive governments in Jerusalem have protected themselves by waging pre-emptive wars, striking before the enemy has time to act. A textbook example of this strategy was Israel’s destruction of Egyptian air defences at the outset of the Six-Day War in June 1967.

Will Israel be able to sit still while its mortal enemies have their finger on the trigger? We shall soon find out.

If Israel decides to act, it will—as always—be condemned by “international opinion” and various Western governments. However, this prospect is unlikely to carry much weight in Jerusalem, which knows that the Jewish state is hated no matter what it does.

When it comes to pure survival, one cannot afford to care about the woes of the world.