Israel has carried out more than 400 airstrikes in Syria and other parts of the Middle East since 2017 as part of a wide-ranging campaign targeting Iran and its militias, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The daily reported that Israeli leaders refer to the campaign as the “war between the wars,” which they say is aimed at deterring Iran and weakening Tehran’s ability to hit Israel in the event of an open war between the two regional adversaries.
The published story contains important information that helps readers understand the reality and the foreseeable future in the Middle East.
It also includes quotes by Iranian and Syrian officials, whereby the newspaper reported on an official close to the Iranian security services saying that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards drew a red line.
“If you attack us, we will retaliate, an eye for an eye,” the Iranian official said about the Guards’ approach.
But what we see from Iran is the exact opposite, and its summary is: “If you attack us, we will respond in Iraq and the Gulf states, not in Israel.”
In the rare event that Iran directly retaliates against Israel, it may be by burning Gaza as usual, or what we see of terrorist operations attributed to ISIS that Iran uses from Syria to Iraq, the whole region, and even Israel.
Moreover, a Syrian government adviser told The Wall Street Journal that the Israeli strikes hadn’t significantly dented Iran’s military influence in Syria. The Iranians “are strengthening their presence” across the country, they said. “It is quite difficult to undermine their position,” the adviser added.
Such a statement slams any possibility of distancing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Iran.
The newspaper also shed light on the hotline Israel and Russia are using to avoid Russian casualties from Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Israeli officials said they have used the line to warn Russia before targeting military bases in Syria when Russian forces work with Iranians.
This could explain why the Russians remained silent against the backdrop of Israeli strikes in Syria.
According to the story, Israel did not take a declared pro-Ukrainian position in order not to anger Moscow and ultimately affect its operations in Syria.
Another interesting piece of information is the analysis conducted by Red Six Solutions of two Iranian drones that were shot down by Israel; They were the largest, had a wingspan of 23 feet, and could fly more than 1,200 miles.
The analysis conducted by the private consulting firm concluded that the drone was an Iranian version of the US RQ-170 Sentinel that Iran brought down in 2011.
Red Six identified the engine of the second downed drone as a Chinese-made model that was used frequently by fighters in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria whom the US says Iran supplies.
The above mentioned facts dangerously indicate US intelligence failure in dealing with Tehran, especially the process of cloning US drones.
This “war between wars” story reveals several important points, namely that Israel is targeting Iran, while the latter retaliates by targeting the security of the region. It also means that the region must prepare well. In the event of a confrontation, Iran will target our security more, and not Israeli security.
The story also shows us that the US has long failed to monitor and deal with Iranian sabotage.
Therefore, our region must be prepared without being completely dependent on Washington. We must remember that our security concerns us more than it means to an unpredictable Washington.
