The New York Times reported today (Saturday) that Israel consulted with the United States before carrying out two covert attacks in Iran, one in September against a missile base and one in June against an Iranian plant building nuclear centrifuges, according to sources briefed on the operations and quoted in New York Times “.
The article, which deals with growing tensions between Israel and the United States against the background of reports of progress in the nuclear talks in Vienna, and is based on dozens of American and Israeli officials who asked to remain anonymous to discuss both sensitive diplomacy and classified intelligence assessments. So she is much more transparent with her than Netanyahu was.
However, the conversation between Bennett and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last week almost slipped into a debate, with both sides taking very different positions on the effectiveness of a renewed nuclear deal to oversee Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The conversation left officials in both countries frustrated, according to officials from both countries.
After the tense phone call with Blinken Bennett, he sent his defense minister, Benny Gantz, and the new head of the Mossad, David Barnea, to Washington this week, armed with new intelligence on the Iranians’ uranium enrichment and advances in weapons. Despite the tightening of American positions, Israeli officials have expressed concern that diplomatic access to Iran will continue.
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In an effort to close the gap, U.S. officials announced this week that two months ago, Biden asked his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, to review the Pentagon’s revised plan for military action against Iran in case the diplomatic effort collapses. Government officials also described new efforts to tighten, rather than ease, sanctions on Iran.
Biden’s focus on military options and sanctions was an effort to signal to Tehran that the United States has run out of patience with the Iranian dragging its feet in the Vienna nuclear negotiations, government officials said. Blinkan also said last week that the new Iranian government “does not appear to be serious about its intentions to do what it takes to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.”
However, today Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi made a clear statement and claimed that Tehran is serious about the nuclear talks. “If the other side is also serious about lifting the sanctions, we will reach a good agreement,” Raisi argued.
Anthony Blinken on nuclear talks and the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran (Reuters)
The tougher line adopted by the US is also intended to reassure increasingly frustrated Israeli officials. Although they will not publicly criticize the US president as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did during the Obama administration, Israeli officials in particular claim that Iranians are promoting their nuclear program while betting on So the US, while eager to reduce American commitments in the Middle East, will not abandon the talks in Vienna in favor of more forceful action.
At the heart of Israeli-US tensions is the fundamental disagreement over how to halt the Iranian plan. This is not a new argument: the two allies fought bitterly over the 2015 agreement, which Israel opposed and President Barack Obama signed.
Recently, US officials even disputed the effectiveness of Israeli sabotage in Iranian facilities, which Bennett believes the withdrawal of the Iranian nuclear program, while the US claimed that such sabotage only encourages Iranians to rebuild nuclear enrichment facilities with more efficient and up-to-date equipment .
On the other hand, some Israeli officials believe that their sabotage campaign has strategic implications and that this may have been the factors that led the Iranians to return, albeit hesitantly, to the Vienna talks. A senior Israeli intelligence source said the sabotage operations had created “paralyzing paranoia at the top of the Iranian government.” The operations, the senior official claimed, prompted Tehran to rethink whether it should accelerate the nuclear project.
However, even American supporters of the Israeli approach say it is akin to “lawn mowing,” meaning a necessary step to keep Iran under control, but not one that will ever completely stop Tehran’s nuclear research. These US officials believe that the only viable way to prevent Iran from developing weapons is to reach an agreement, such as the one in 2015, that requires Iran to send its nuclear fuel out of the country. And this will require significant relief in return sanctions.
In a conversation with Linken Bennett, he said that Iran is trying to blackmail the United States by increasing the enrichment percentage, according to an official who is familiar with the details of the conversation. Bennett added that no official, American or Israeli, wants to be the one to report that Iran has reached bomb-level enrichment, but stressed that the fear of a nuclear-armed Iran should not lead to surrendering to Iranian demands or signing a reckless agreement.
Some U.S. officials believe these concerns about concessions are out of place. Israeli officials have complained that the United States is considering offering an interim agreement with Tehran that would lift some sanctions in exchange for a freeze on some of its nuclear activities, but U.S. officials say such an offer is not being actively considered, at least for now, due to Iran’s unwillingness to participate.
Israeli officials did not calm down. They are concerned that the United States will eventually reach a deal with Tehran and then seek to block Israeli intelligence services from secretly sabotaging Iran’s nuclear efforts. Israeli leaders say they want bail from the Biden administration that Washington will not seek to curb their sabotage campaign, even if a renewed nuclear deal is reached.
Disagreements over intelligence assessments of the Iranian nuclear stockpile and bomb-making knowledge have remained relatively small, mainly focusing on how long it will take Iranians to produce weapons if they obtain sufficient nuclear-level nuclear fuel. U.S. officials believe that as long as Iran does not move to developing a bomb, it has no nuclear military program, as it has suspended the existing program after 2003. Israeli officials, however, believe that Iran has continued a secret effort to build a bomb since 2003.
At this week’s meetings, Israeli officials tried to persuade Washington not to act on a diplomatic agreement and instead tighten sanctions. But Israeli sources say they fear the US is having secret communications on the back channel with Iran, and that a new round of talks in Vienna will eventually lead to the signing of an agreement.
The meetings came amid a recent Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Syria, a senior U.S. official said. Israelis, the senior official said, had an aggressive attitude toward the Iranian threat, which is linked to both the nuclear program and the risk of nuclear missiles and other weapons being deployed. However, the US fears that it is only a matter of time before an American soldier is killed or wounded by an Iranian drone under the Biden administration. When Iran makes it clear that it will retaliate against American forces in Syria or Iraq if Israel attacks Iran or comes to power, it complicates the planning of the attack.
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