Unexplained explosions over several weeks at sensitive sites in Iran have been attributed to Israel trying to goad Iran into armed conflict before the November elections, Israeli and European officials say.
Israel has intimated that it is behind the plot itself.
Iran has seen several mysterious explosions take place at sensitive sites over the past several weeks including explosions at a missile production facility, a nuclear facility and an important shipyard this week.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that according to Middle Eastern officials, Israel’s intelligence services were responsible for the explosion at the nuclear facility.
“We take actions that are better left unsaid,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said at a press conference on July 5 with regard to Iran.
A former Israeli defense official told Business Insider that it was “common knowledge” that at least some of the events of the past several weeks were the work of Israeli espionage.
“I don’t know which ones exactly and wouldn’t tell you anyway because the entire point is for the Iranians to feel considerable stress trying to decide what might have been our work,” they said.
The campaign is one one “maximum pressure, minimal strategy,” according to an EU official.
A former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Business Insider Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election.
“There would be a lot less appetite for adventures and secret missions to blow up nuclear facilities under a Biden administration,” the EU official said.
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