IDF And Mossad Combine Against Iran

IDF and Mossad Concur About Iran

Hugh Fitzgerald

If the Bidenites have their way, and the U.S. returns to the 2015 Iran deal, lifting all sanctions on the Islamic Republic, the malign regime in Tehran will potentially have a windfall of more than a hundred billion dollars, much of which it can plow into its nuclear program. Iran is a vast country, with many possibilities for hiding nuclear facilities, including places it has already built some 50 meters underground. The IDF understands that if it were to attack Iran, trying in one fell swoop to destroy its nuclear program, it might manage – just – to do so, but the immediate response of Iran’s army, and that of its ally Hezbollah, would also bring terrific destruction to Israel. 

The IDF chief Aviv Kochavi has pledged that Israel will never let Iran get nuclear weapons, but he is also well aware of the enormous price Israel would have to pay – militarily and diplomatically – if it were to launch a massive first strike. While Israel managed to destroy much of a centrifuge plant built 50 meters underground at Natanz, it’s not known if it has a MOP (Massive Ordnance Projectile), commonly known as a bunker-buster, large enough to destroy a nuclear facility built even deeper underground, or inside the mountain at Fordow; Israel will not be ready to carry out such an attack until the U.S. agrees, as part of guaranteeing Israel’s QME, or Qualitative Military Edge, to supply such weapons.

So far the job of slowing down Iran’s nuclear program has been entrusted by the Israeli government to the Mossad. There have been many successes and no known failures (if there had been, Iran would have been crowing about them) of the Agency. Now it seems that both Mossad and the IDF, pleased with Israel’s success so far, are planning to keep on keeping on, with the Mossad continuing to deliver the death of a thousand cuts. The story is here: “Report: IDF, Mossad Push Plan for Multiple Small-Scale Operations Against Iran Nuclear Program,” by Benjamin Kerstein, Algemeiner, July 21, 2021:

Israel is examining possible changes to its operational plans against the Iranian nuclear program in order to contend with a US reentry to the 2015 nuclear deal.

According to Walla [an Israeli news website], the IDF and the Mossad have emphasized to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the government generally that while it is necessary to prepare for the possibility of an Israeli air strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, such an approach would be greatly complicated by a renewed nuclear deal.

One source in the security establishment told Walla that if Iran cuts a new deal with the US, “It’ll be a problem to bomb from the air.”

It’s unclear what this statement means. Does it refer to the possibility that if the US and Iran return to the 2015 deal, Washington would be less willing to supply Israel with bunker buster bombs? Or is it something else, perhaps an attempt by the Bidenites to place a limit on Israel’s use of American F-35s, limiting their use in offensive operations? Could it be a reference to Zbigniew Brzezinski’s infamous advice to Barack Obama, that if Israel launched an aerial attack against Iran, the Americans in Iraq should shoot the Israeli planes down so as to prevent a full-scale war in the Middle East that might endanger oil supplies? Or is it something else entirely? I leave it up to you to decide.

Moreover, the IDF has told Bennett that its latest assessment has found that the IDF is still not at full readiness for a major conflict with Iran.

The IDF and Mossad have agreed that for now, on the Iranian front, Mossad agents will do the heavy lifting. They will not only continue to attack every aspect they can of Iran’s nuclear program, but concomitantly will attack non-nuclear assets, including power and petrochemical plants, as it has been doing since 2019. Israel will not try to land a knockout blow when it knows it lacks the wherewithal and may still require certain weapons from the Americans – though the IDF will be training for such a future attack — but will continue to batter the Iranians with “small plans and big plans.” The Iranians, already rattled, will be reeling from blow after after Israeli blow. The attacks will be carefully calibrated so that they do not trigger a major response from Iran. So far, despite the many attacks Israel has carried out against Iran, the Islamic Republic has yet to lay a hand on the Israelis, except for two drone or missile attacks on Israeli vessels that caused minimal damage. And not a single Israeli agent has been caught by the Iranians.

The Death-Of-A-Thousand Cuts seems to be working. Or as they used to say in Scotland: Many a little makes a muckle. Mossad is about to bring the Islamic Republic a world of woe.

More...