The Jerusalem Post, in an unsigned editorial, practically confirmed that the recent spate of damaging industrial incidents in Iran, including a July 2 fire in an aboveground structure at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, are not accidents but the result of a concerted campaign to send Iran a “message” that it is vulnerable. The Post notes that three weeks ago, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya’s Institute for Policy and Strategy issued a paper warning that the government‛s focus on West Bank annexation was diverting attention from Israel‛s most dangerous enemy, Iran. Two weeks later, however, “something dramatic changed....” After listing the half-dozen incidents, the Post writes that these events “indicate that somebody, somewhere — and it is anyone’s guess who that is and where — has not forgotten Iran, even amid the world’s preoccupation with corona, America’s turbulent domestic situation, and Israel’s debate (much less intense over the last week) over annexation.
“These actions inside Iran send a strong message to the Islamic Republic — already reeling from the coronavirus, crippling U.S. sanctions, a deep economic crisis and domestic foment — that it is vulnerable, that its most sensitive facilities can be reached and penetrated, and that facilities suspected of being used to further its nuclear and ballistic missile program can be severely damaged,” the Post asserts. “Iran has many proxies doing its dirty work around the region and the world, but whoever planned, green-lighted and carried out what look like premeditated attacks against key Iranian infrastructure has decided the time was right to go for the head of the octopus, and not suffice with hitting one of its many tentacles abroad.”
