The Israeli military’s Intelligence Branch believes that the last few months provided unequivocal proof that the United States, and not Russia, is the most influential superpower in all theaters of the Middle East, including in the Palestinian, Lebanese and Iranian arenas.
During an ‘Israel Defense & HLS’ Expo Conference in Tel Aviv, the IDF Intelligence Director Major General Tamir Heiman pointed to the fact that alongside its unparalleled military power, the United States has proven – over the course of the past several months – that its economic superiority and political sway alongside the usage of a wide array of legal tools in multiple spheres across the volatile region that Washington has ‘unmatched global superiority.’
As part of an elaborate intelligence assessment of the Middle East, General Heiman insisted that Israel maintains its qualitative edge vis-à-vis its enemies. With regard to Jerusalem’s arch enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Heiman noted even though the Mullahs in Tehran were forced to scale back their expansionist activities – because of the mounting economic pressure – “there still has not been any change in the Iranian nuclear program.”
The top Israeli military intelligence officer revealed the presiding assessment, according to which “The Iranians are still being cautious and are preserving the framework of the crumbling nuclear agreement,” for fear of a military confrontation with the United States. That is why the Iranians refrained from taking “any significant action to advance their vision of acquiring nuclear weapons.”
General Heiman also took the opportunity to send a scathing warning to the Secretary General of Tehran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah – Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah – who vowed in a televised speech on the 31st of May, that “the whole region will burn” if the United States launches a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Israeli military intelligence Director said that Hezbollah does not currently possess any operational capabilities pertaining to precision-guided missiles – which significantly diminishes the threat is poses to Israel.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that despite his reluctance to take military action against the Islamic Republic, “there is always a chance,” amid escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear aspirations. In an exclusive interview that was held in London with ITV, the American leader defended his decision to leave the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, which Trump insisted ‘granted the Ayatollah sanctions relief, including significant funds, in return for a terrible short-term deal.’ According to The U.S. President: “Iran is a place that was extremely hostile when I first came into office. They were in 14 different sites between Yemen and Syria and many other battle zones. They were behind terrorism in many different places. They were a terrorist nation, number one in the world at that time and probably maybe are today. And they were a funder of terrorism. President Obama made a deal, the Iran nuclear deal which was a terrible deal because it was a short-term deal. Didn’t do the trick. Paid 150 billion dollars, paid 1.8 billion in cash – if you can believe it, in cash. And, I was very much against that, I was very much against the deal. I terminated the deal and Iran is a much different country today.” The American leader then responded to the question “Do you think you will need to take military action?” which was posed by the reporter by saying: “There’s always a chance. Do I want to? No, I’d rather not, but there’s always a chance.”
The comments made by President Trump came just several days after the U.S. Navy released visual-footage showing the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier participated in a large-scale joint-drill alongside U.S. Air Force B-52s from the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron. No additional information was made available regarding the exercise, yet its location was identified as “near the Arabian gulf.”