There are concerns that Israel-bound ships could be targeted while sailing through the Red Sea
July 23, 2019 09:05
As tension increases in the Persian Gulf with the seizure by the Iranian of a British oil tanker, Israel has issued its own warning to Iran.
In a rare public statement, Israel’s minister for regional cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi said in a radio interview that “Iran knows not to mess with Israel, the only county that kills Iranian operatives in the last two years.”
Mr Hanegbi added: “we have struck Iran hundreds of times in Syria. Sometimes we admit it and sometimes foreign news organisations publicise it.”
The minister’s remarks followed a speech last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he said that “we have seen again the Iranian aggression in the waters of the Persian Gulf. It’s time all the world understands the severity of danger of Iran and Hezbollah and it’s time all the world stands up to them.”
In recent months, senior Israeli security officials have assessed that due to the Israeli strikes, Iran has, for now, suspended its plans to establish large permanent military bases in Syria and is instead focused on a more mobile presence, as well as strengthening its proxies across Israel’s border.
On Sunday, according to Syrian media, a missile hit a vehicle in southern Syria, about ten miles from the border with Israel. The strike killed Mashour Zidan, who was identified as a senior Hezbollah operative. Israel did not take responsibility for the attack.
Israeli security officials have warned in recent weeks that Iran may seek to retaliate against Israel’s air strikes on its forces and proxies in Syria by attacking an Israeli ship, or a ship belonging to another nation en-route to an Israeli port, while sailing through the Red Sea. The Israeli navy has bolstered its presence at sea for such an eventuality.
Meanwhile, there are deeper concerns within Israel’s security establishment over the possibility of a new diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran.
Some in Israel’s intelligence community fear that while President Donald Trump announced in May 2018 that the US is leaving the nuclear deal and has since applied new sanctions, there is a faction in his administration that is trying to negotiate a deal that would not be very different from the original one.
In this case, some Israeli officials warn, Israel will actually have less influence than it had during the Obama administration as Mr Netanyahu has already endorsed Mr Trump’s Iranian policy. Also, they add, while the original Iran deal was negotiated out in the open in international talks, a new “Trump deal” with Iran could be reached in secret backchannels.
There is, however, an opposing view in the Israeli intelligence community: that a new deal is now impossible, as Iran’s Supreme Leader is currently ideologically opposed to any new negotiations with the US and will prevent any attempt by Iran’s president Hasan Rouhani from pursuing one.
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