Tag: Iran

Khamenei adviser says Tehran ‘capable of building nuclear bomb’

JERUSALEM POST STAFF – July 17, 2022

Tehran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but has yet to decide whether to build it, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told Al Jazeera’s Arabic service on Sunday.

Tehran will also directly respond against Israel should its security be targeted, the report says citing the advisor.

“In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60% and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium … Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one,” Kamal Kharrazi said.

Background
In 2018, former US President Donald Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment work, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

About a year into Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, Tehran started violating the pact’s nuclear restrictions.

Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, saying it is refining uranium only for civilian energy uses, and has said its breaches of the international deal are reversible if the United States lifts sanctions and rejoins the agreement.

Indirect talks between Iran and President Joe Biden’s administration, which aim to bring both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the nuclear pact, have stalled since March.

Kharrazi said Tehran would never negotiate over its missile program and regional policy, as demanded by the West and its allies in the Middle East.

https://www.jpost.com

Hizballah drones were the opening shot of a maritime energy war vs Israel

– July 7, 2022

The IDF’s revelation on Wednesday, July 6, of a fourth Hizballah drone that was intercepted heading for Israel’s Karish gas rig, confirmed an assessment that the Lebanese terrorist organization was bent on starting a war, initially over this offshore gas platform. This hitherto undisclosed drone was intercepted three days before the three that were shot down on July 2 by Barak missiles. This one was downed by advance electronic warfare measures after being identified at a distance from Israel’s maritime economic zone, while still over Lebanese waters. No reason for the disclosure of this fourth drone at this time was offered by the military.

DEBKAfile’s Mid-East sources have concluded that Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran’s terrorist proxy Hizballah, has decided to go to war against Israel over its newest gas rig. In his words, “Lebanon’s oil and gas resources must be freed from Israeli control, just as the south was freed [in 2000] and Israel’s ‘security zone’ dismantled by force of arms.”

The drone tactic is the opening shot, say our sources, for three objectives:

  1. To scare the staff employed on Israel’s offshore gas and oil rigs in the eastern Mediterranean into fleeing for fear of their lives.
  2. Nasrallah included Greece’s maritime energy projects in his declaration of war.
  3. As a strong message that the management of gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean had passed from the Lebanese government to Hizballah control. The intention was to nullify the Lebanese prime minister’s condemnation of the drones as “unacceptable” and as jeopardizing ongoing US-brokered negotiations on the drawing of a maritime border between Lebanese and Israeli economic zones.

The interception of the three Hizballah unarmed UAVs was presented by the Israeli military as an important feat, although the Barak missiles were highly expensive compared with the cheap drones. However, Hizballah, did not care about recovering the drones but aimed at this stage for a psychological advantage. This was meant as a declaration that a new page had been opened in its contest against Israel over the oil and gas fields of the Mediterranean.

https://www.debka.com

How Israel foiled attempts to poison its water supply, disrupt US power plants

Israel National News – June 29, 2022

The deputy commander of the IDF’s signal intelligence, or “SIGINT” unit, also known as Unit 8200, spoke at the Cyber Week Conference hosted by Tel Aviv University this week.

The address marked the first time an officer from the unit has made a public appearance, though military censors barred publication of the officer’s full name, referring to him only by his first name, Uri.

Uri described Unit 8200’s cyber defense operations, citing two recent examples, including a foiled attempt – widely attributed to Iran – to gain control of Israel’s water distribution system and poison the water supply, as well as a planned attack on American power plants.

“Once we obtain superiority over the attacker, we then act to deny their capabilities,” said Uri. “By collaborating with industry or if necessary, we do it on our own – implementing our tools at some point along the attack stream. Be assured – 8200 won’t rest until the threat is removed.”

“When do we apply these methods? I’ll mention two examples from recent years. In the first case an adversary attacked water treatment facilities in Israel. We saw this careless attacker attempting to poison the water in order to claim human lives. We mitigated that threat far ahead.”

“Another adversary, from this region, attacked in Israel. We initialized a CCO, and found out they are also trying to attack power plants in the US. This was the first indication for that attack. It enabled preventing this threat through our tight collaboration with our US partners.”

https://www.israelnationalnews.com

Covert War Between Iran, Israel Emerges from the Shadows

Chris Mitchell – June 23, 2022

JERUSALEM, Israel – For years, what’s called a “war between wars” has existed between Israel and Iran, where much of the fighting takes place in the shadows. This shadow war is coming more and more out into the open.

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced new rules of engagement with Iran called “Operation Octopus.”

He said, “In the past year, the State of Israel has taken action against the head of the terrorist octopus … the days of immunity, in which Iran attacks Israel and spreads terrorism via its regional proxies but remains unscathed, are over.”

Middle East analyst Ellie Cohanim sees the region shifting.

“I think it’s well overdue for Israel and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Bahrainis. All of these countries that have been the victims of the Iranian regime proxy activity start to hold Iran responsible rather than the proxies,” she told CBN News.

Some see a ratcheting up of Israel’s covert and even overt operations to thwart Iran’s nuclear, and conventional missile and drone programs. It could explain the mysterious deaths of a number of Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders recently.

Another example is Israel’s recent attack on the Damascus airport, which Israel sees as a major conduit of Iranian weapons on their way to Hezbollah in Syria.

Now, Israel says Iran is threatening to retaliate by kidnapping or killing Israelis in the region and especially in Turkey.

“We are currently witnessing Iranian attempts to attack Israelis in various overseas locations. The security services of the State of Israel are working to thwart attempted attacks before they are launched. We will continue to strike those who send the terrorists and those who send those who send them. Our new rule is: whoever sends, pays,” said Bennett.

https://www1.cbn.com

Israel to simulate striking Iran in massive IDF drill

ANNA AHRONHEIM – May 17, 2022

The IDF will simulate striking targets far from Israel’s borders with a large number of planes while simultaneously acquiring new targets on various fronts in real-time during its largest military drill in history.

The drill is unique and unprecedented in scope and will enable the army to maintain a high level of readiness in an ever-changing region, the IDF said. It aims to improve the military’s capabilities in an intense, multifront and prolonged war on all its borders.

During the drill, the IAF will practice striking targets far from Israel’s borders, while troops continue to contend with a multifront war on its borders.

The IDF is planning several military options against Iran should the nuclear talks between the West and the Islamic Republic fail, and it will practice one of the possible options during the exercise.

The military will also implement the lessons learned from Operation Guardian of the Walls throughout the entire month. During the 11 days of fighting last year, there was heavy rioting in those areas as well as in mixed Arab-Israeli cities such as Lod and Jaffa. Two people were killed, and several civilians were injured.

As part of the drill, the IDF will simulate scenarios in which there is rioting twice as violent as last year.

The military wants to be able to send troops before violence breaks out, and not in response to the violence, and it will work to keep roads open in areas in the Negev and in the Wadi Ara area of the North.

Thousands of soldiers and reservists are taking part in the drill, dubbed Chariots of Fire. All commands, including the IAF and Israel Navy and regular and reserve forces, will take part.

https://www.jpost.com

Iran threatens to target ‘the heart’ of Israel if the Jewish state makes ‘slightest move’ against it

Ricky Scaparo – April 18, 2022

The armed forces of Iran will target “the heart” of Israel if the Jewish state makes the “slightest move” against it, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi warned Jerusalem in a televised address Monday.

“If you make the slightest move against our nation … our armed forces’ destination will be the heart of the Zionist regime,” Raisi warned. He spoke as talks stalled in Vienna amid President Biden’s attempt to resurrect former President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

While Obama and Biden stated that their deals aim to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, critics like former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ron Dermer have claimed that the Biden deal would put Iran on a glide path to nuclear weapons. Reporting surfaced last month that the U.S. may consider removing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from its list of designated terrorist groups in exchange for regional peace.

Israel has opposed such a deal, and Israeli officials have said they will unilaterally do what is necessary to protect their country. “The Zionist regime [Israel], you should know that … if you take the slightest move against our nation, our armed forces will target the heart of the Zionist regime” Raisi said in a televised speech at a military parade to mark the national Army Day.

Troops marched in front of the podium where Raisi stood with army officers. Helicopters flew overhead and parachutists dropped down over the parade area near the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state. The United States and Iran have been engaged in indirect talks for more than a year to rescue the pact.

Washington left it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. But the talks were suspended last month over the unresolved issue of whether the United States might remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list, as demanded by Tehran.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Expert Warns Another War Between Israel, Gaza Could be Coming Soon

Chris Mitchell – January 3, 2022

JERUSALEM, Israel – On Saturday, Israeli warplanes launched strikes against terror targets inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after terrorists fired two missiles that landed off the coast of southern Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck rocket manufacturing sites and Hamas military targets in Gaza.  Hamas fired heavy machine guns and – for the first time – anti-aircraft missiles at the Israeli warplanes.

The strikes mark only the second incident between Hamas and Israel since a ceasefire ended a war last May.

For 11 days in May, Hamas fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel.  Israel’s Iron Dome shot down about 90% of those rockets while the IDF responded with surgical strikes against the terror group’s military infrastructure inside Gaza.

Jonathan Schanzer, from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, writes in his new book “Gaza Conflict 2021” that much of the media covering the war got it wrong.

“You know, a lot of people talk about fake news. I’m not sure that applies here. I’m not even sure that the word bias applies here. The problem was, it was almost as if the West and the Middle Eastern media – and I would actually say that includes Israeli media as well as Arabic media – it seemed like they were covering two different wars entirely,” he told CBN News.

The majority of those reports stated the war began over disturbances on the Temple Mount and a real estate dispute in a Jerusalem neighborhood.

“That was all over the Western press, but yet, people just decided to ignore the fact that Palestinian elections were canceled, and that Hamas was angry and looking to make a splash. And that’s exactly what they did by launching the war,” said Schanzer.  “People forget – you know, they talk about how angry they are at Israel when it responds to these rockets, which by the way, I mean, these are provocations by Hamas.  Israel’s responses are almost entirely defensive in nature. But also people forget that Hamas almost single-handedly destroyed the peace process in the 1990s. So, if the concern is peace, the idea that you would blame Israel for a war with Hamas is rather ridiculous.”

Schanzer says much of the media also failed to recognize Hamas’s covenant to destroy Israel, fueled by their violent beliefs and main funding source: Iran.

https://www1.cbn.com

Is War Between Israel and Iran Inevitable?

Joseph Puder – December 29, 2021

In Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) annual assessment of the security situation and challenges to be faced in 2022, it appears that a moderate improvement in the security situation surrounding Israel is expected. The Israeli government approved the proposed budget submitted by the Defense Ministry. “Israel’s defense establishment will receive NIS 58 billion, an increase of NIS 7 billion.” The extra allocation takes into account the possible operations against the Iranian nuclear facilities and other maligned Iranian schemes. According to reports, Israel would purchase various types of manned aircraft, intelligence-gathering drones, and unique munitions needed for a possible attack on Iran’s heavily fortified underground nuclear sites.

The evolving strategic cooperation Israel has now with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, is a definite positive development for Israel. In addition, halting the Iranians and their proxies from advancing toward Israel’s Golan Heights, and the support Putin’s Russia is giving to Israel’s operations against Iran is clearly a positive development. The Russians have not obstructed Israeli aerial operations against Iran’s shipment of arms to Hezbollah, nor the Israeli attacks on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bases and their proxies in Syria.

What is difficult to predict, however, is when Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist groups in Gaza would choose to launch another mini-war with Israel. During the May 2021 war, or as Israel calls it, Operation Guardian of the Walls, Hamas, and the PIJ suffered significant losses in personnel and arms. Many of their top engineers were eliminated, and their “secret weapons” (mini-submarines, and drones carrying bombs) were destroyed, along with a large quantity of their rocketry. The IDF has recommended a tough approach against Hamas’ attempts to rearm.

Although the Lebanese Shiite-Muslim Hezbollah is far more powerful than its fellow terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, Sunni-Muslim Hamas, it is exercising far more restraint in operating against Israel. Having achieved supreme political and military power in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah knows that a war with Israel at this time would jeopardize all that he and Hezbollah have managed to accomplish. The 2006 Second Lebanon War Hezbollah waged against Israel was a devastating one for the Lebanese. A war now would be even more costly for the suffering Lebanese. While both Hamas and Hezbollah’s raison d’être is the destruction of the Jewish state, Hezbollah, unlike Hamas, will be held accountable in the confessional Lebanese system of government.

The chances for a war initiated by Israel’s enemies, i.e., Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas are projected to be low in 2022. The explosive situation that existed in the last few years on Israel’s northern border has been reduced, and it appears that neither Iran nor Hezbollah are ready for a full-scale war with Israel.

https://www.frontpagemag.com

Iranian newspaper threatens Israel with a map of targets that Iran would strike if provoked

ETH – December 15, 2021

Iran’s state-affiliated newspaper Tehran Times sent a direct threat to Israel on Wednesday, publishing a map of the country highlighted with dozens of potential Iranian targets if the Islamic Republic chose to attack the Jewish State according to CBN News.

The article, titled “Just One Wrong Move,” said Iran is capable of striking Israel “anywhere.” “An intensification of the Israeli military threats against Iran seems to suggest that the Zionist regime has forgotten that Iran is more than capable of hitting them from anywhere,” the paper says.

According to Tehran Times, Yedioth Ahronot also revealed that one of the main demands of Israel from the United States, which war minister Benny Gantz and Mossad chief David Barnea stressed during their visit to Washington last week, is a complete cessation of Iran’s ballistic missile development and production program.

The paper also said that the Israeli military experts are worried about the short time span it takes Iran to hit Israel. According to the Israeli newspaper, it takes Iran an hour to launch missiles into Israel.

Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said on Tuesday that Iran never underestimates the enemy’s threats. “Despite our confidence in the deterrence situation of the country, our forces have never underestimated the threat of the enemy and are prepared for the smallest of threats in the strategic field,” Bagheri remarked.

Tehran Times also quoted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responding to Israeli military threats against Iran in 2013, saying that “[the Israelis] must know that if they make a mistake, the Islamic Republic will destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa”.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

The ‘First Iran War’ is just around the corner

Nir Barkat – December 5, 2021

As a Jew and an Israeli, current events are nothing short of bizarre. Iran, a terrorist state behind a global axis of evil, is once again getting the last laugh. It is hard to watch as the United States and Europe politely attempt to reach a deal with Tehran at the cost of an existential threat to Israel.

Murmurings in Europe, along with American ambiguity toward Israel on this issue, are a warning sign to Jerusalem. The lifting of sanctions will see billions of dollars pour into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ coffers for the country’s transformation into a nuclear state. No less dangerous, it will boost their confidence ahead of military action against Israel on multiple fronts.

The next war on our northern front won’t be the Third Lebanon War, but the First Iran War. The Iranians are planning to strike Israel on six fronts: From Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, internally with the assistance of some Arab Israelis, and through the use of long-range missiles from Iran and Yemen. This will be a conventional war, but it will be far from straightforward.

The Iranian working model is to build a “security network” in the form of Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations.

The time, therefore, has come to change the equation. For every missile launched from Lebanon, the return address should be Tehran. Iran’s days of immunity are over. They need to pay a price at home, in Tehran and every other place they hold dear.

https://www.jns.org