{"id":3615,"date":"2020-07-18T05:12:10","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T05:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopoi.org\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2020-07-18T05:12:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T05:12:10","slug":"israels-nuclear-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/?p=3615","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s nuclear war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n

Yassamine Mather<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nBinyamin Netanyahu\u2019s government tacitly admits its role, so why the\nIranian regime is in denial<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThere\nare strong indications that Israel was responsible for a number of\nincidents in Iran\u2019s military and nuclear sites. On June 20 Tehran\u2019s\ninhabitants reported a major explosion that lit up the skies east of\nthe capital and the government tried to play down the incident,\nblaming a gas explosion in Parchin military base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHowever,\nsatellite photos showed the incident had occurred slightly further\naway at Khojir – a missile production plant with underground tunnels\nthat conceal Iran\u2019s arsenal. The Kuwaiti\nnewspaper Al-Jarida<\/em> claimed\nthe day after that the explosion was caused by missiles dropped by a\nnumber of Israeli F-35 stealth fighter jets, although both Israel and\nthe United States have denied any involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nwas followed by major power cuts in the southern city of Shiraz. On\nJuly 2 there were reports of a fire and an explosion at one of the\nbuildings in the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, which is\nrumoured to be a production plant for centrifuges. While most of the\nplant is underground, the explosion occurred in one of its few\nabove-ground buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAccording\nto Simon Henderson, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near\nEast Policy, \u201cIt looks as though a \u2018nuclear war\u2019 of sorts has\nstarted in the Middle East.\u201d1<\/a> Henderson\nfurther claims that as a result of the blast Iran\u2019s nuclear\nprogramme has been set back for months, if not years. I should warn\nreaders that this \u2018Institute\u2019, far from being an independent\nacademic institution, is \u201can American pro-Israel think tank based\nin Washington\u201d, as Wikipedia puts it – \u201cpart of the core\u201d of\nthe Israel lobby in the United States (a charge that WINEP denies).2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThen\non July 10 The\nNew York Times<\/em> claimed\nit had first-hand information that \u201ca joint American-Israeli\nstrategy is evolving – some might argue regressing – to a series of\nshort-of-war clandestine strikes\u201d.3<\/a> The\nIranian press was also quick to blame Israel. According to Nournews,\nwhich is often associated with the Islamic Republic\u2019s Supreme\nNational Security Council, Israel could not have been responsible for\nthe Natanz explosion operation without getting a green light from\nWashington: \u201cIf we accept that the Zionist regime\u2019s role [in the\nincident] is true, then we have to accept that they had received US\napproval to directly engage with Iran.\u201d4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nJavad\nKarimi Ghodousi of Iran\u2019s national security committee blamed\nInternational Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, accusing them of\nacting as spies for the Israeli government. He added that the\nexplosion at the nuclear site took place in the building that IAEA\ninspectors had examined six times: \u201cThe incident is a result of the\ninfiltration and information-gathering in favour of the Zionist\nregime conducted by the inspectors.\u201d5<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn\nfact Israeli officials just stopped short of claiming responsibly for\nthe Natanz incident. According to foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi,\n\u201cWe have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations\nnot to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities … We take actions that\nare better left unsaid.\u201d6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThere\nare obvious reasons why Binyamin Netanyahu and his government might\nhave been behind it. After all, the much heralded annexation of parts\nof the occupied Palestinian territories planned for July 1 did not\nhappen after widespread opposition from European states. The\nopponents of the annexation included the pro-Israeli UK premier,\nBoris Johnson, who, writing in Israel\u2019s high-circulation\ndaily, Yedioth\nAhronoth<\/em>,\nstated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI\nam a passionate defender of Israel. So it is with sadness that I have\nfollowed the proposals to annex Palestinian territory … I am\nfearful that these proposals will fail in their objective of securing\nIsrael\u2019s borders and will be contrary to Israel\u2019s own long-term\ninterests.7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAll\nthis coincided with low poll ratings for Donald Trump, who, of\ncourse, is Israel\u2019s most important ally. However, whatever the\nreasons, the delay did not go down well with pro-settler Israeli\npoliticians, who accused Netanyahu of \u201cgiving up\u201d on plans to\nannex the Jordan valley in favour of more-limited moves. Former\njustice minister Ayelet Shaked accused Netanyahu of preparing to\nabandon the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nUnder\nsuch circumstances, the Israeli government needed something to divert\nattention and the Natanz incident could have been part of such plans.\nPerhaps both Washington and Tel Aviv hoped Iran\u2019s Islamic Republic\nwould retaliate, paving the way for an all-out regional war. If that\nhappened, no doubt every western institution from the European Union\nto the United Nations would express sympathy with Israel and perhaps\nsee good reasons to go along with the annexation of Palestinian\nterritory. If that was the plan, Iran\u2019s current policy of\ndownplaying these incidents must be infuriating for both the Trump\nand Netanyahu administrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHypocrisy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\nOnce\nmore these events have showed the complete collapse of sections of\nthe Iranian left. Some claimed they were concerned about the negative\neffects of Iran\u2019s nuclear industry on the climate, while others\nberated \u201cout-of-date anti-imperialists\u201d, who keep going on about\nIsrael!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhenever\nwe in Hands Off the People of Iran (Hopi) have addressed the issue of\nIran\u2019s nuclear programme, we have pointed out that it is the safety\nof Iran\u2019s nuclear industry itself that poses a threat, not the\nalleged development of nuclear weapons. It is clear that the regime\ndoes not value the life of its civilians or even its own supporters.\nIn 2020 both the Islamic Republic\u2019s cavalier attitude towards\nCovid-19 and hostility towards demonstrators at the funeral of\nassassinated general Qasem Soleimani and against the downing of a\ncivilian plane have proved this basic fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHowever,\nlet us be very clear that another Middle Eastern state – namely,\nIsrael – most certainly possesses nuclear weapons. Decades after the\nabduction and imprisonment of Mordechai Vanunu, the nuclear\ntechnician who exposed the extent of Israel\u2019s nuclear programme,\nthe country still denies having nuclear bombs. It is not a signatory\nto the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and it is\nestimated that Israel has a stockpile of between 80 and 400 nuclear\nwarheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIts\nDimona plant has been at the centre of court battles between its\nformer employees and pensioners, seeking compensation for nuclear\nleaks. In April 2016 the Israeli daily Ha\u2019aretz<\/em> reported\nthat the plant has more than 1,500 defects – some detected as early\nas 1963.8<\/a> In\nSeptember 2017, Dimona pensioners and surviving members of their\nfamilies finally received a total of $22 million compensation from\nthe Israel Atomic Energy Commission, which is part of the prime\nminister\u2019s office.9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAll\nthis shows that Israel\u2019s \u2018secret\u2019 nuclear programme is as\ndangerous to its own citizens and its neighbours as Iran\u2019s nuclear\nindustry. It poses a major threat not only to the peace and security\nof the Middle East, as well as Europe and North Africa, but also to\nthe region\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHopi\nhas always maintained a very clear position – we want a nuclear-free\nregion, which means, of course, the destruction of Israel\u2019s nuclear\narsenal. If Iran had nuclear weapons (and there is no evidence at all\nthat it does) we would be demanding their destruction too. But to\nsingle out the nuclear programme of Iran\u2019s Islamic Republic while\nignoring another religious state\u2019s actual nuclear weapons is\ntotally hypocritical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnyone\nwith an iota of intelligence knows that meddling with the control\nsystems of a nuclear plant by hacking its computing system, or\ncarrying out air raids against such plants, could cause an\nunprecedented ecological catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nCloser\nto home, the events of the last few weeks in the Middle East should\nact as a wake-up call for those who are still under the impression\nthat false accusations of anti-Semitism directed against the left\ninside and outside the Labour Party are all down to a desire to\nundermine Jeremy Corbyn. The current witch-hunt has far more\nambitious aims: it is about securing European support for the USA\u2019s\npro-Israel geopolitical agenda, and silencing the anti-war movement\nin this country and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
  1. \n\tthehill.com\/opinion\/international\/505975-will-iran-go-nuclear-over-its-latest-nuke-site-setback<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  2. \n\ten.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Washington_Institute_for_Near_East_Policy.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  3. \n\tnytimes.com\/2020\/07\/10\/world\/middleeast\/iran-nuclear-trump.html<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  4. \n\tmiddleeasteye.net\/news\/iranian-press-review-iran-warns-israel-over-direct-confrontation-following-natanz-explosion<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  5. \n\tIbid<\/em>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  6. \n\trferl.org\/a\/israel-launches-new-spy-satellite-to-monitor-iran-\/30709355.html<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  7. \n\ttimesofisrael.com\/in-hebrew-op-ed-uks-johnson-implores-israel-to-drop-annexation-bid<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  8. \n\thaaretz.com\/israel-news\/.premium-dimona-reactor-plagued-by-1-537-defects-scientists-say-1.5440719<\/a>.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n\t<\/li>
  9. \n\t.\u2009haaretz.com\/israel-news\/cancer-stricken-israeli-nuclear-reactor-workers-awarded-22-million-1.5451774.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yassamine Mather As Binyamin Netanyahu\u2019s government tacitly admits its role, so why the Iranian regime is in denial There are strong indications that Israel was responsible for a number of incidents in Iran\u2019s military and nuclear sites. On June 20 Tehran\u2019s inhabitants reported a major explosion that lit up the skies east of the capital … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “Israel\u2019s nuclear war”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopoi.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}