Washington
- The world is accustomed to tight Israeli silence when attacks take place inside Iran, while the American media leaks news of these attacks minutes after their implementation. The drones that targeted a military facility in Isfahan (central Iran) on Sunday night were carried out by Israel.
A former American diplomat told Al-Jazeera Net that "choosing silence is consistent with an old and long-term Israeli strategy. Until today, Israel has not acknowledged its possession of nuclear weapons despite the world's realization of this fact, and in the case of Iran, Israel has never acknowledged the assassination of Iranian scientists or the bombing of some facilities or launching Cyber attacks, and we in Washington know who carried out these attacks."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel was behind the Isfahan attack, despite the latter's silence (Reuters)
A broader regional and global framework for the Isfahan offensive
The recent Isfahan attack came in light of the troubled relations between Iran on the one hand and the United States and Israel on the other, and after Russia bought hundreds of drones from Iran - which it used to strike Ukrainian cities - and after the deepening military alliance between Iran and Russia became a source of growing concern for Washington.
It is unclear whether Washington played a role in the Isfahan strike, or whether Israel - which has so far refused to supply Kyiv with any weapons - agreed to carry out this attack in part to thwart shipments of Iranian drones to the Russians, said Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder. The US military played no role in these strikes.
The American diplomat - who declined to be named - says, "The release of news of attacks inside Iran is consistent with the great coordination between Israel and the United States, and its leakage from Washington gives it a lot of credibility, especially in the first hours of suspicion and in light of the scant information about it." what happened".
The escalation comes just days after CIA Director William Burns went to Israel, and the attack came less than a week after the US and Israeli armies conducted the largest joint military exercise ever between them, in which more than 7,500 personnel from both sides participated, during which training was conducted on destruction scenarios. Air defense systems and jet refueling, which could be key elements in a future military strike against Iran.
The attack represents another chapter in the long-running conflict between Israel and Iran, as Israel used sabotage, assassination, and drone strikes to target Tehran's nuclear program and its capabilities in the field of conventional weapons, and Iran armed many forces along the borders with Israel, whether inside Lebanon, in Syria, or even inside the Palestinian territories.
Washington speaks and Israel neither denies nor confirms
For his part, Iranian affairs expert Jawdat Bahjat - a lecturer at the Near East and South Asia Center at the Pentagon's National Defense University - believes that, "As usual, Israel refused to confirm or deny what happened, and Iran downplayed the impact of the attacks, claiming that they caused only minor damage." There is no impartial way to accurately assess the results of this attack based on open sources."
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Professor Bahgat said, "The recent visit of the CIA director and the US National Security Adviser to Israel does not necessarily mean that the United States was involved in this attack or was aware of it, and there is no doubt that there is a great deal of cooperation between the states." the United States and Israel, and sometimes Israeli officials share information with their American counterparts, and sometimes they don't."
He added, "Politically, the United States is trying to pressure Iran to accept more concessions in the negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement, and these negotiations have not died. The Qatari foreign minister was in Tehran yesterday and delivered a message to his Iranian counterpart related to the nuclear negotiations."
The site was attacked by drones about 4 years ago, and the Iranian authorities have fortified it since that time.. New details about the attack on a military facility belonging to the Iranian Ministry of Defense in Isfahan Governorate |
Report: Suhaib Al-Asa # Al-Akhbar pic.twitter.com/2M4mEMKYgL
- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) January 31, 2023
Does Iran have the means to respond?
In this shadow war between Iran and Israel, both sides are trying to score points, and Prof. Bahjat states, “So far, confronting drone attacks has represented a great challenge not only for Iran, but for all countries. Nevertheless, Tehran still has many options, and as was the case in In the past, Iran is likely to attack targets inside Israel or in the wider Middle East, including ships in the Gulf and around the world, and Tehran has advanced capabilities in the field of drones and cyberattacks.
In turn, Barbara Slavin, an expert on Iranian affairs at the Stimson Institute, says, "With the nuclear talks about to be forgotten and new tensions with the Palestinians, Israel will resume its direct attacks on Iranian targets inside and outside Iran, it is clear that the Biden administration has agreed to this approach even as it tries to deny Knowing in advance about the attacks, the United States in particular is frustrated with Iran providing Russia with drones for use in Ukraine, and sees no prospect of reviving the nuclear deal any time soon.
In her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Slavin said, "This escalation is fraught with risks, of course, but it seems that Israel and the United States are betting that Iran is not in a position to do much in return, given its internal legitimacy crisis and the faltering economy."
As for Professor Bahgat, he concluded his speech to Al-Jazeera Net by stressing that "the region is witnessing widespread tensions, and that this attack is an additional escalation of tension in the Middle East, which confirms the need to successfully conclude the nuclear negotiations and reach a consensus on a new regional security structure."