As tensions in West Asia continue to escalate with Iran getting directly involved in the conflict, a top Israeli defence expert notes that repeated blows from Israel including the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah chiefs have created a “frustrating situation” for Tehran.
According to Brigadier Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, who formerly headed the research division in Israel Defence Force Military Intelligence and is now a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, the situation is heading in the very opposite directon that what Iran had anticipated.
In a telephonic interview with ANI, Kuperwasser who served as Director General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs said that Iran’s involvement in the war was anticipated with Tehran planning to encircle Israel through its proxies.
“They know that they are going to pay a price because this time there’s going to be Israeli and maybe even American retaliation. But they were understanding that if they don’t do anything, Israel has a carte blanche to keep defeating the Iranian proxies,” Kuperwasser said.
“This is something that’s so terrible for them because their entire plan was to build this ‘ring of fire’ around Israel, circle it with these proxies they’ve built to weaken Israel. They believed everything was going their way. And that’s why Hamas decided to launch the attack on October 7. But it turns out that it’s going the opposite direction. And in order to prevent it from moving too far in this direction, they might decide to carry out an attack against) Israel. It seems that this attack is imminent,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the October 1 Iran’s missile attack on his country as a “big mistake” and said Tehran would pay for it. “Iran made a big mistake today and will pay for it. The Iranian regime does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to take revenge on our enemies,” he said.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also made a post on the Iranian attack firing over 180 ballistic missiles on Israel. Khamenei captioned the post as “Victory from God and a near conquest…”.
In another post, he said, “The strikes of the resistance front on the worn-out and decaying body of the Zionist regime will be more striking.”
On being asked about the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, the Israeli defence expert Kuperwasser said, “This was a very important target of the Israeli intelligence for a long time and it was…innovative ideas, they probably managed to make contact with Nasrallah and to know where is he at a specific time that enabled them to carry out the attack. That’s what happened.”
He further said that Nasrallah’s elimination is going to have “severe repercussions” for Hezbollah which will be left without any leadership. Kuperwasser said that it has created a very “frustrating situation” for Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and Tehran’s “entire evil axis.”
“This is going to have severe repercussions for Hezbollah because Hezbollah was left without its charismatic leader and many other leaders were eliminated as well. So Hezbollah is left without a leadership that can really lead. There are people that may fill all kinds of key positions, but they don’t have the charisma and the authority to conduct discussions that would lead to decisions that would be followed with zeal by the operatives of Hezbollah,” Kuperwasser said.
“This is a new situation for Hezbollah and this is a new situation for Iran that has built Hezbollah for so many years. And now they feel totally frustrated to the point that they are now getting ready to launch again a barrage of missiles towards Israel from their territory. So this is a very frustrating situation for Iran, for Hezbollah and for Hamas and for the entire evil axis led by Iran,” he said.
The Israeli Defence Forces launched precision strikes on the Lebanese capital in Beirut last week, which led to the death of Nasrallah. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that the airstrikes targeting Hassan Nasrallah resulted in civilian casualties, with at least six people killed and dozens injured.
Following the death of Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Iran’s Ayatollah regime and asserted that those who target Israel will face ‘consequences’ and that “no location” in Iran or the Middle East is “beyond Israel’s reach.”
Following this, Hezbollah also officially acknowledged the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The Iran-backed group said that its leader, Nasrallah, “has joined his fellow martyrs.” The group also vowed that it would “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.”