The world is used to Israeli silence when it comes to attacks in Iran, and the US media leaked the news minutes after the attack. The latest news is that the “Wall Street Journal” quoted US officials as saying that the night before, on Sunday, January 30, a drone attack on a military facility in Isfahan (central Iran) was carried out by Israel.
A former US diplomat told Al Jazeera, “Choosing silence is in line with a long-standing old Israeli strategy. To this day, Israel has not acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, although the world is aware of this fact. On the part of Iran, Israel has never Admitting to the assassination of Iranian scientists, bombing of certain facilities, or cyber attacks that we already know in Washington who carried out those attacks.”
The wider regional and global context of the Isfahan attack
The recent Isfahan attack comes amid troubled relations between Iran and the US and Israel. Russia previously bought hundreds of drones from Iran that were used to attack Ukrainian cities. And the deepening military alliance between Iran and Russia has become a growing concern in Washington.
It is not clear whether Washington played a role in the Isfahan airstrike, or whether Israel, which has so far refused to supply Kyiv with any weapons, agreed to do so in part to prevent Iran from sending drones to Russia. attacks. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said the U.S. military played no role in those strikes.
The U.S. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The news of the attack coming out of Iran is consistent with significant cooperation between Israel and the United States. And the leaks from Washington give it a lot of credibility, especially In the first few hours of doubt, and given the paucity of information on what happened.”
The escalation came just days after CIA Director William Burns traveled to Israel. The attack also came less than a week after U.S. and Israeli forces conducted the largest ever joint military exercise. More than 7,500 personnel from both sides participated in the exercise, which included training for scenarios of destroying air defense systems and refueling jets. This could constitute a major factor in future military strikes against Iran.
The attack marks a new chapter in the long-running conflict between Israel and Iran. Israel has used sabotage, assassinations and drone strikes to attack Tehran’s nuclear program and its capabilities in the field of conventional weapons. And Iran has armed many forces along its border with Israel, whether in Lebanon, Syria, or the Palestinian territories.
Washington speaks out, Israel neither denies nor acknowledges
On the other hand, Gawdat Bahgat, a lecturer at the Center for Near Southeast Asia at the Pentagon’s National Defense University and an expert on Iranian affairs, believes, “As usual, Israel refuses to acknowledge or deny what happened. Iran downplayed the impact of the attack, claiming that There was only minor damage. There is no impartial way to accurately assess the outcome of this attack based on publicly available sources.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Professor Baggett said, “The recent visit to Israel by the CIA Director and the US National Security Adviser does not necessarily mean that the US was involved in the attack or knew about it. There is no doubt that the relationship between the US and Israel There is a great deal of cooperation between them, with Israeli officials sometimes sharing information with their U.S. counterparts and sometimes not.”
He added, “Politically, the United States is trying to pressure Iran to make more concessions in the negotiations to restart the nuclear agreement. These negotiations are not over, because the Qatari foreign minister was in Tehran on the 30th and told the Iranian foreign minister. conveyed information related to nuclear negotiations.”
Does Iran have the means to respond?
In this shadow war between Iran and Israel, both sides are trying to score points. Professor Bhagat pointed out that “to date, combating drone attacks has been a huge challenge not only for Iran, but for all countries. However, Tehran still has many options. As in the past, Iran is likely to strike inside Israel. or targets in the wider Middle East, including ships in the Gulf and around the world. Tehran has advanced capabilities in the area of drones and cyber attacks.”
On the other hand, Barbara Slavin, an Iran expert at the Stimson Center, said, “With the nuclear talks about to be forgotten and renewed tensions with the Palestinians, Israel will resume direct attacks on Iranian targets inside and outside of Iran. The Biden administration has apparently agreed to this approach, even as it seeks to deny that it knew of the attack in advance. The United States is particularly frustrated with Iran supplying drones to Russia for use in Ukraine and sees no near-term prospect of reviving the nuclear deal. “
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Slavin noted, “Of course, such an escalation is risky. However, given its domestic legitimacy crisis and ailing economy, both Israel and the United States appear to be betting that Iran will not be able to respond.” .”
As for Professor Baggett, he concluded his Al Jazeera interview by emphasizing that “the region is experiencing widespread tension and this attack is a further escalation of tension in the Middle East. The need for a consensus on security architecture.”