Iran is denying that a drone strike by the Israelis only did “minor damage” to a defense compound in Isfahan containing several factories as well as the Iranian space agency.
You decide if there was “minor damage.”
#Israel carried out a clandestine drone strike targeting a defense compound in #Iran https://t.co/6n0eoBhBRr via @WSJ
— Barbara Slavin (@barbaraslavin1) January 29, 2023
BREAKING: Multiple drone strike targets factories in Iran. Reports that the drones came from an Israeli airbase in Azerbaijan.
Do not doubt, this will escalate, and Russia will have to side with iran in a war against Israel. pic.twitter.com/p0iA5gnStB
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) January 28, 2023
That’s the story, and Iran is sticking to it.
“Such actions cannot impact the determination and intent of our experts for peaceful nuclear progress,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, according to government news service PadDolat.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in office since Dec. 29, and he didn’t waste any time letting the Iranians know he was back in charge.
Israel’s latest strike comes as Israeli and American officials are discussing new ways to combat Iran’s destabilizing operations, including its deepening military cooperation with Russia.
Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns made an unannounced trip to Israel last week to discuss Iran and other regional issues, according to people familiar with his visit. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday to continue the U.S.-Israel talks about Iran and other regional issues.
Last week, the U.S. and Israel carried out their largest-ever joint military exercise involving more than 7,500 personnel from both countries and a series of scenarios to test their ability to take out air-defense systems and refuel jet planes—both of which could be key elements of a major military strike on Iran.
Joe Biden has desperately been trying to find a way to resurrect the nuclear deal that his old boss, Barack Obama, agreed to. But Iran keeps upping the ante, making it impossible for Biden to surrender.
Meanwhile, the U.S. would dearly love Israel to help in the war against Ukraine by supplying the Ukrainians with weapons and technology. But Israel is in a very delicate situation with Russia. The Russians are looking the other way when the Israelis hit targets in Syria despite it being their air defense system that’s supposedly protecting Damascus. Israel doesn’t want to do anything that would upset that arrangement.
But strikes like the one carried out this weekend on Iran actually help Ukraine by preventing Iran from assisting Russia.
“This is a smart trifecta where Israel can hurt Iran, help Ukraine, and not risk its strategic interests in Syria or run the risk of the diversion of its sensitive military technology to Russia and into Iran,” said Mark Dubowitz, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank critical of Iran.
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor @Podolyak_M on Saturday night's explosions in Iran: "War logic is inexorable and murderous. It bills the authors and accomplices strictly…
Explosive night in Iran – drone and missile production, oil refineries. Ukraine 🇺🇦 did warn you." pic.twitter.com/VtExccIbVc— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 29, 2023
Russia is not going to lift a finger to help Iran. If Israel keeps the pressure on, Iran’s ability to assist Russia by supplying it with drones will be severely compromised.
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