Tel Aviv. Tension in the West Asia and the Gulf is getting to a peak. On January 3, a year ago Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds Force, one of five branches of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed and Iran since that day is preparing a retaliation.
Soleimani was killed on January 3 last year when a US drone launched missiles that hit his car near the Baghdad International Airport.
Israel and the US are on high alert for two scenarios; an Iranian action and a US attack on Iran before President Trump leaves the White House on January 20.
Some weeks ago the New York Times reported that President Trump had raised an option to attack Iran’s central uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Trump made the remarks while sitting in the Oval Office after receiving an update that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) report showed that Iran had significantly increased the amount of enriched uranium in its possession. According to the report, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior government officials dismissed the President on the grounds that it would lead to a regional escalation.
A few days after the same report in the New York Times, Secretary of State Pompeo visited Israel and the Gulf states. During Pompeo’s visit, US officials in his entourage said that as far as the Trump administration was concerned “all options are still on the table” regarding Iran.
While Pompeo was in the Gulf, the Central Command of the United States Army, which is in charge of the West Asia, announced a surprise exercise in which B-52 strategic bombers were launched. These bombers are capable of carrying the giant bombs that can penetrate the underground bunkers in which the Iranian facility is protected.
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The American bombers took off from the United States and flew directly to the US Air Force base in Qatar. The surprise exercise was presented as a message to Tehran. A statement from the Central Command of the United States Army stated that “the aim of the exercise was to deter aggressive elements” and to express support for the United States’ allies in the West Asia. Since then more B-52 were spotted over the relevant areas in the Gulf.
American and Israeli intelligence sensors are all focused in an effort to get an early warning on an Iranian terror or military action, either by its forces or by one of its proxies in the West Asia and the Gulf.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
