Israel and Iran Updates
The fights between Israel and Iran grew worse over this weekend as both sides launched attacks that killed hundreds.
These two countries are located in the Middle East, which is around where Africa and Asia meet. It includes southwestern Asia, northeastern Africa, and parts of southeastern Europe. Geographically, they are about 1,100 miles apart the distance. The land route is more than 1,700 miles because there is not a direct path through the countries between them, which are Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. Iran is the 17th largest country in the world, having 636 thousand miles of land, and is more than 70 times larger than Israel by area. However, Israel has almost 10 million people living there, and Iran has 45 million, so population density is very different. This may be because the climate in Iran is mostly hot with very little rainfall. The Negev desert in Israel has similar conditions, but the country’s climate overall varies a lot. The most densely populated area there is the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area, which has an average of 2300 people a kilometer. Compare this to the 1550 people/ km density of Iran’s most populated city, and its average of only about 110 people/km.
Even though they have not officially declared war, Israel and Iran have been attacking each other for decades. During the cold war from the 1940s to the 1980s, these countries were at peace but since the Iranian revolution ended in 1979, their relationships have been declining.
The 170,000 active personnel of the Israeli military is overshadowed by the 610,000 of Iran, but it has a far better air force. Though both have access to open waters, their battles take place mostly in the air, where Israel shines.
Over last weekend, the two countries’ conflicts grew more violent. Israel sent fighter jets to set Iran’s capital, Tehran, on fire by bombing fuel storages. Iran fought back by launching missiles back. What the media knows currently is that at least 24 were killed in Israel and Iran had over 200 deaths from each other’s attacks. Both have also denied the help of other countries to calm the conflicts.
