Iran face more covert operations against targets in the country and its proxies in the region as the United States and Israel look to deter Tehran from building a bomb, defence experts told The National on Monday after strikes on an Iranian ammunition depot and the convoy of an Iran-backed militia in eastern Syria at the weekend.
The drone attack on the warehouse in Isfahan on Saturday night, confirmed by Iran, and air strikes on a convoy of lorries carrying arms into eastern Syria from Iraq on Sunday night, came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a three-day visit to Egypt and Israel.
“I believe it is true what is being reported that the strike was done by Israel because if things were to escalate, having the Carrier Strike Group 10, the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, all of those bombers, all of those F-35s, all of that material in the region could help the Israelis if things got hot,” said Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East Security Programme at the Centre for New American Security.
“I get the sense that the timing of the attack was probably calibrated to a time when they thought they had an insurance policy in the region in case things went poorly or continued to escalate."
The strikes come on the heels of the largest joint military exercise between the US and Israel, involving 6,400 US troops, more than 1,500 Israeli troops, more than 140 aircraft, 12 naval vessels, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and multiple-launch rocket systems.
Israeli reminder to Iran
Analysts view the joint exercises and attacks against Iran as a way for Israel to send a reminder that it will not hesitate to influence the use of non-diplomatic routes if Tehran continues to stall talks with Western powers on an reviving the 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear programme, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“We’re at a very sensitive time: the Iran nuclear talks are at an impasse; Iran is closer to a nuclear breakthrough than ever; Israel just got a new Benjamin Netanyahu-led government that clearly stated it would do everything to prevent Iran from acquiring the bomb; and the protests in Iran have weakened the Islamic Republic and may cause it to lash out to balance that perception,” Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst, told The National.
Footage of the drone attack on what Iran identified as a “warehouse” and its aftermath corresponds to a site near a shopping centre in Isfahan.
Isfahan, 350km south of Tehran, is home to both a large airbase built for its fleet of American-made F-14 fighter jets and its Nuclear Fuel Research and Production Centre.
“In the absence of a real diplomatic option to curtail Iran’s nuclear programme, other countries, including Israel and perhaps the US will have to deter Iran from building a bomb through deterrence and covert actions — all of which bear a risk of escalation,” Mr Horowitz said.
Neither Israel nor the United States claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of air and missile strikes against Iran-backed and government forces in Syria, where the US military is also active.
A US official who spoke to the Wall Street Journal said Israel appeared to have been behind the drone strike.
Precedence of attacks
Damage seen in footage released by Iranian state media suggests that bomb-laden quadcopter drones were used to strike the target in Isfahan. Last February, Israel sent six quadcopter drones carrying explosives into a manufacturing and storage plant for military drones near the city of Kermanshah.
In 2021, a similar attack using quadcopter drones targeted a centrifuge-manufacturing plant in Karaj, while in 2019, quadcopters were used against a Hezbollah shipment in Lebanon.
There is a belief that Israel wants to send a message to Iran that it can reach anywhere in the country, especially sensitive areas.
“The joint [Israel-US] military exercise is a reminder that if it fails and the regime further ramps up its nuclear activity — for example, if it raises enrichment levels further and is seen to be moving towards weaponisation — there are non-diplomatic options to try to contain that threat,” said Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the Crisis Group.
On Monday morning, further drone strikes killed three people including a pro-Iran commander as they were been inspecting the site of the previous evening's strikes near the Iraq-Syria border that killed seven people, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"A commander in an Iran-backed group and two of his companions, all of them non-Syrian, were killed this morning after renewed drone strikes," the opposition war monitor said.
According to experts, the latest strikes on the border crossing between Al Qaim and Al Bukamal in Syria has hallmarks of the air campaign Israel has sustained over Syria since January 2013 that has targeted various Iranian weapons shipments.
In November, Israeli military chief of staff Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi confirmed a strike by Israeli warplanes on a convoy of lorries at the same crossing based on what he called “perfect intelligence”.
“Stepped-up attacks, especially inside Iran, could be a result of Israel ratcheting up the pressure as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is all but dead and Iran continues uranium enrichment — Rafael Mariano Grossi of the IAEA warned last week that Iran already has enough enriched uranium to build ‘several’ nuclear bombs, undoubtedly crossing Israeli red lines,” Paul Iddon, a columnist who writes about Middle East military and political affairs, told The National.
Sunday's strike targeted five white refrigerated lorries with missiles in the Hari area of Al Bukamal, one kilometre from the border crossing with Iraq, an officer who defected from the Syrian regime's military and who monitors the area said. The lorries were carrying Syrian number plates and yellow fires erupted in the area.
"They could have been carrying weapons, or spare parts for weapons, or primary material for narcotics," the officer told The National. "It is impossible to know, but they definitely were not hauling frozen food from Iraq."
‘Reminding Europe’
The drone strikes in Isfahan drew a reaction from Ukraine, which accuses Iran of supplying hundreds of drones to Russia to attack civilian targets in Ukrainian cities far from the front. A senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy linked the incident directly to the war there.
"Explosive night in Iran," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Sunday. "Did warn you." Mr Podolyak’s comments led to Iran to summon Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Tehran on Monday.
Dr Hamidreza Azizi, an expert on Iran and the Middle East at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the attack could be a ploy by Israel to advertise its tough-on-Iran credentials to partners who might otherwise criticise it over its policies against Palestine.
"Considering Iran's involvement in the war in Ukraine by supporting Russia, even the Europeans and the United States are feeling the importance of addressing these elements of Iran's activities more strongly than before. In the past, especially Europe was mostly concentrated on Iran's nuclear programme," he told The National.
"Now that this sense of threat is also there in Europe, by doing this kind of activities Israel can remind its European and American allies that it can help them contain the Iranian threat. In return, of course, what Netanyahu and the Israeli government in general would expect from its allies is to sort of ignore what's going on in Palestine and the Israeli violence against the Palestinians."
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Hamilton profile
Age 32
Country United Kingdom
Grands Prix entered 198
Pole positions 67
Wins 57
Podiums 110
Points 2,423
World Championships 3
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
NEW%20UTILITY%20POLICY%3A%20WHAT%20DOES%20IT%20REGULATE%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Agreements%20on%20energy%20and%20water%20supply%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Applied%20service%20fees%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customer%20data%20and%20information%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Prohibition%20of%20service%20disconnections%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customer%20complaint%20process%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Management%20of%20debts%20and%20customers%20in%20default%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Services%20provided%20to%20people%20of%20determination%20and%20home%20care%20customers%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
South Africa World Cup squad
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
- Brentford v Arsenal
- Burnley v Brighton
- Chelsea v Crystal Palace
- Everton v Southampton
- Leicester City v Wolves
- Manchester United v Leeds United
- Newcastle United v West Ham United
- Norwich City v Liverpool
- Tottenham v Manchester City
- Watford v Aston Villa
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
