( I24) Israel-US strategy against Tehran evolves to ‘short-of-war clandestine strikes,’ report says
New satellite photographs of Iran’s Natanz power plant show the facility was damaged far more extensively than estimated last week, a New York Times report said on Friday.
Two intelligence officials with information on the subject said it could take the Iranians up to two years to return to their former nuclear centrifuges production capacity as the complex lay in “charred ruins,” according to the Times.
A study published Wednesday by the Institute for Science and International Security confirmed that the damage inflicted on Natanz is “a major setback” it would take Tehran years to recover from; however, it concluded that the harsh blow “does not eliminate Iran’s ability to deploy advanced centrifuges.”
On Friday morning, another blast rocked Tehran, reportedly seen coming from a missile base. The series of explosions and unspecified “incidents” hitting Iran in recent weeks raised the possibility that the Islamic republic may have been infiltrated from within.
While Tehran has not disclosed details over the incident, excluding Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation that admitted “significant damage” to Natanz, the Times reported that some form of retaliation could be expected — either against the United States or against Israel.
The report assessed that a new strategy between Jerusalem and Washington was evolving “to a series of short-of-war clandestine strikes,” aiming at killing top Iranian generals — such as the taking out of Qasem Soleimani in January — and inflicting significant damage on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
