Israel failed to prevent Iran from advancing nuclear program: Think tank

A US think tank says Israel’s strategy on Iran has been a dismal failure, warning that Tehran’s sharp response to the regime’s provocations could spark a regional confrontation.

The Atlantic Council said in an article that although the Israeli regime is piling up tactical successes, its policy towards Iran is failing. It added that there is a growing gap between the statements of senior Israeli officials and the reality on the ground.

“It is necessary to adopt a balanced policy that considers the state of the Iranian nuclear program before it’s too late. Israeli officials need to remember that pushing Iran into a corner and changing the equation of deterrence between the countries could lead to a sharp response from Tehran that could end in a regional confrontation,” the article read.

It said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented to its Board of Governors’ meeting in Vienna on June 6 revealed the depth of Iran’s progress in its nuclear program “despite Israel’s efforts to thwart it.”

“Israel hasn’t achieved its goal of preventing Iran from having an advanced nuclear program.”

According to the article, the futile endeavors include various covert operations such as acts of sabotage, assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists and members of the Quds Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as well as a threat to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations.

Iranian Nuclear accidents; Israeli sabotage and assassinations

Israeli sabotage attempts against Iran’s nuclear program have failed despite repeated Israeli assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and unrelenting US support.

“Continued economic sanctions, various covert operations, and a threat to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations haven’t stopped the country’s nuclear program nor changed its behavior, and it is very doubtful if it will succeed in the future.”

The piece also said Iran’s oil revenues under the current sanctions regime illustrate the failure of Washington’s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran which has been backed by Israel.

“The Trump era concept of ‘maximum pressure’ no longer works in a world short of oil and willing to bypass sanctions. Iran’s revenues from oil exports under the current sanctions regime illustrate this fact.”

Maximum pressure campaign against Iran proved ‘abject failure’: US

Washington says its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has been an “abject failure.”

Even Arab neighbors of Iran across the Persian Gulf, the article said, do not push Iran into a corner, and “it seems that they aren’t keen to enforce the sanctions on Iran.”

The piece rejected the “incorrect” notion that there is a “credible military threat” against Iran’s nuclear program. “This kind of threat simply cannot return given other, more pressing crises and the US desire to reduce its military presence in the Middle East.”

Israel is only achieving a “Pyrrhic victory” against Iran, it said. “At best, Israeli attacks are stalling the program; at worst, they are incentivizing Iran to move faster.”

The article said the Tel Aviv regime “needs to recalculate and adopt a strategy that corresponds to the current state of the Iranian nuclear program.”

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