Just two months have passed, and 2023 has
already established itself as a significant year in the ongoing clandestine
struggle between Iran and Israel.
Five individuals were killed and numerous
structures were destroyed by an Israeli attack early on Sunday in Syria's
capital, Damascus. Two Western intelligence operatives cited by Reuters news
agency stated the attack's target was a logistical centre maintained by Iran's
strong Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Following two notable events in January, a
strike was carried out in the centre of the Syrian capital. A military base in
the Iranian city of Isfahan in the country's centre was the target of a drone
strike on January 28 at night. The next night, an airstrike against a convoy of
Iranian trucks that had crossed into Syria from Iraq quickly followed this.
The majority of these clandestine activities,
according to experts, were most certainly carried out by Israel.
Israel has been running an air campaign for
the past ten years to stop the IRGC from arming its regional militia allies,
especially Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It also aimed to prevent the IRGC from
establishing a military presence in Syria. In fact, such strikes often target
the Al-Qaim border crossing between Iraq and Syria, the scene of the attack on
January 29.
Israel is also suspected of being behind a
number of clandestine attacks and sabotage activities against Iranian sites
that produce drones and missiles as well as the nation's nuclear programme.
Also, it is the main suspect in the murders of
prominent Iranian nuclear experts, most notably Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was
slain in a road ambush near Tehran in November 2020 and is said to have been
shot with an autonomous satellite-controlled gun.
The surge of attacks in 2023 might be a hint
that Israel is stepping up and escalating these parallel activities at a time
when geopolitical priorities are shifting.
Despite the best efforts of the Biden
administration and its European allies, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally
known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which attempted to limit
Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, is all but dead.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, claims that Tehran has increased uranium
enrichment to the point where it may now produce "many" nuclear
weapons if it so chooses. Tehran has far from curtailed its nuclear programme.