Tehran is drumming up an oral war of attrition against Israel as a ruse to deter the IDF from striking the military hardware and personnel flowing into Syria.
Iran is pouring out violent threats in a rising crescendo against the Jewish state for two goals:
One is to keep Israel off-balance and frozen in a high defense posture on its northern borders; and two, to con Israel into fearing that any IDF action would tip over into an all-out conflict.
This stratagem allows Tehran to keep up a continuous stream of hardware and personnel into Syria and Lebanon free of hindrance by Israel’s air force and missiles, and so anchor its military presence in both of Israel’s northern neighbors.
Tension between Tehran and Jerusalem has been high since April 9, when an Israel air strike knocked out a Revolutionary Guards air force command center at the Syrian T-4 air base.
But, apart from blistering threats of retaliation, Iran has none nothing. Israel celebrated its Independence Day under clear skies, although the following day, Friday, April 20, the Guards deputy commander Gen. Hossein Salami warned that Iran’s hand “was on the trigger of its missiles” and Israel’s air bases were “within reach.” But Tehran sees an opportunity for taking a high tone against Israel following three developments:
- The missile strike conducted by the US, the UK and France on Syrian chemical sites on April 14 was a letdown. And also, against expectations, the Western attack avoided Iranian targets, although Hizballah and other pro-Iranian forces played a central role in the Syrian conquest of East Ghouta and its use of chemical weapons. Saudi sources put out a report on Friday alleging that 15 Iranian officers were killed in the missile strike. There are no grounds for this report and it appears to have been designed for home consumption.
- President Donald Trump repeatedly asserts that he is determined to pull American troops out of Syria as soon as possible. This gift is a boon for Tehran’s goals. It will remove the main obstacle, a US military presence along the Syrian-Iraq border, that impedes the transfer of pro-Iranian Shiite militias from Iraq into Syria and the creation of a continuous land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean. In celebration of its effortless gain, reports appeared on Saturday that Iran, Iraq and Syria had undersigned a project for building a 1,700km highway from Tehran to Damascus via Baghdad that will be ready for traffic in two years.
- Moscow and Jerusalem are at loggerheads over Syria after a long period of amity. Tehran has taken note of President Vladimir Putin’s recent warning to Israel that its air force operations in Syria would no longer have the freedom previously enjoyed. Putin has therefore removed another big obstacle from Tehran’s goals. Iran will make every effort to deepen the rift.
For all these reasons, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman cannot be satisfied with their protestations of the IDF’s readiness and willingness to pick up the gauntlet against any threat. Tehran’s belligerent rhetoric is a cover for an action which Israel’s leaders have vowed to prevent. This can’t be done by talk alone.
The USS Truman and its Strike Group entered the western Mediterranean Sea early this morning, doubling the amount of American firepower in that region of the world.
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) entered the U.S. 6th fleet area of operations Wednesday, the region where less than a week ago U.S., British and French forces launched air strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities.
The Truman CSG left Norfolk on April 11 for a regularly scheduled deployment to both the 6th Fleet and 7th Fleet areas of operation. Along with sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, the strike group is expected to also operate in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf during this deployment.
In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, three facilities that were part of the Syrian government’s chemical weapons program were hit by a coordinated set of U.S., French, and British airstrikes. A total of 105 missiles were launched from both ships and aircraft operating in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, Virginia-class attack boat USS John Warner (SSN-785) launched six Tomahawks and French frigate Languedoc (D-653) fired three of the naval variant of the SCALP land attack cruise missiles, according to Navy officials. British and French aircraft also fired missiles while flying in the region.
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group includes USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60), and guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), USS Bulkeley (DDG-84), USS Farragut (DDG-99), USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98), USS The Sullivans(DDG-68) and USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81). German frigate FGS Hessen (F-221) is also joining the Truman CSG for this deployment.
The Truman CSG includes twice the number of ships that were part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike group that operated in the same regions a year ago. The Bush CSG included USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon(DDG-58) and USS Truxtun (DDG-103); and guided missile cruisers USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) and USS Hue City (CG-66).
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