Until now, Iran’s role in the current crisis in the Middle East has been hidden in the shadows as it acted through its proxy Hezbollah and its client state Syria. Now, though, there are signs that the Iranians may be taking a more active role in the crisis.
TEHRAN, Iran — The speaker of Iran’s parliament warned Israelis on Tuesday that no part of their country is safe from Hezbollah attack.
The comments by Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel called into question Tehran’s official position that it is not involved in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The towns you have built in northern Palestine (Israel) are within the range of the brave Lebanese children. No part of Israel will be safe,” Haddad Adel told thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators in Palestine Square.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki indicated that Iran may be playing a covert role in the fighting when he said Monday that a cease-fire was feasible. He spoke after talks with the Syrian government in Damascus.
May be playing a covert role ? Who are they kidding ? Iran’s role as the principal sponsor of Hezbollah has been an open secret since the 1980s. The events we see playing out now are just the culmination of twenty years of effort.
Iran and its ally Syria are the principal backers of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that provoked the current fighting when its guerrillas seized two Israeli soldiers last week. On Monday, Israeli military officials said their planes had destroyed a long-range missile in Lebanon, named “Zelzal,” that Hezbollah had received from Iran.
Israel has alleged that 100 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are in Lebanon acting as advisers to Hezbollah. Iran has denied the accusation, saying Hezbollah is strong enough to defend itsel
So far, Israel has restrained itself from confronting the sponsors of Hezbollah in Damascus and Tehran. Whether that will, or should, continue as the fighting grows deadlier is an open question.
Most importantly, it appears that Israel has the capability to strike Iran if it wants to:
Israel has purchased 25 $84 million F-15I (I for Israel) Ra’am, a special version of the U.S. F-15E long-range interdiction bomber. It also is buying 102 of another long-range tactical jet, the $45 million F-16I Sufa. About 60 have been delivered.
The Jewish state also is buying 500 U.S. BLU-109 “bunker buster” bombs that could penetrate the concrete protection around some of Iran’s underground facilities, such as the uranium enrichment site at Natanz. The final piece of the enterprise is a fleet of B-707 air-to-air refuelers that could nurse strike aircraft as they made the 900-mile-plus trip inside Iran, dropped their bombs and returned to Israel.
“They have the capability to strike Iran,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney, a former fighter pilot who has trained with Israelis. “It would be limited, though. They could do 30 to 40 ‘aim points’ in the array. I’m not worried about them hitting the targets. They will suffer losses, but they are capable of doing it.”He said Israeli fighter pilots are “the best in the world. I’ve flown against them. They train better. They get more flying time.”
H/T: John @ Op-For
