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For the better part of the 21st century Israel has been trying to circumvent Iran’s regional ambitions in the Middle East to become a nuclear state and spread its military power to neighboring countries. By exploiting the disarray in Syria, Iran routinely sends convoys through Syria to arm its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, with precision guided munitions (PGMs) and other equipment. Israel has reacted by launching a political and military campaign. Usually it was the political effort that was very public while the intelligence and military activities occurred behind the scenes, but in the past week or so we have seen a number of mysterious explosions in Iran. It is hard not to see the Israeli (and American) fingerprint all over these incidents.
Israel’s intelligence is known to execute audacious missions around the world using creative methods. Look no further than breaking into and smuggling out the secret Iranian nuclear archives in 2019. The brilliance in Israel’s alleged reactions lay in how they have managed to face Iran on a number of fronts; in Iran, in Syria and in Lebanon. Each one of them is a unique peril in and of itself, but together comprise the big Iranian threat. Instead of applying a blanket rule for combating Iran, the Israelis broke down their military campaign into smaller components and use their flexibility and creativity to address each one in a unique form.
Israel’s target in Syria is not a Syrian sovereign one, rather it is an independent Iranian actor functioning in Syria. Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes to avoid the shipment of Iranian strategic weapons from entering Lebanon. Many times, the Israeli air force must hit a moving target while avoiding any collateral damage of hitting Syrian state assets.
In Iran though, Israel’s tactics are different. When facing the nuclear program in Iran, Israel is facing a sovereign country. In Iran, it is Iranian assets that are on the Israeli radar. At first it was Iranian scientists who were disappearing mysteriously. Nowadays Israel has shifted to exploding non-human assets - nuclear-related sites. In this case, Israel is not exercising any military option or airstrike, it is the clandestine work of the Mossad planting explosives in various locations.
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