Israel Pressing for Proxy War to Pressure Iran: IRGC General

In an interview with Jamaran, General Hossein Alayee – a former chief of staff of the IRGC and the first IRGC Navy commander – has commented on the objectives behind a new round of Israeli military strikes on pro-resistance forces in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

“It seems that Israel’s main purpose in launching the recent attacks on the buildings of Hezbollah in Lebanon, on the Hashd al-Sha’abi (Popular Mobilization Forces) military bases in Iraq, and on the positions that it believes belong to the IRGC Quds Force in Syria, is to make the US and a number of the European and Arab countries sensitive about the Islamic Republic’s increasing clout in the Middle East,” he noted.

“Israel wants to argue that despite the full-scale US sanctions, Iran’s power is constantly increasing in the countries around Israel, and that it would be possible to curb it only with bombardment and military attacks. In addition, the Zionist regime wants to create a rift in the relations of the governments of Lebanon and Iraq with Iran, and to link their security to restrictions on Hezbollah, Hashd al-Sha’abi and the Quds Force,” the general explained.

“Israel is seeking to start a proxy war under the pretext of carrying a preemptive operation in order to force the US to mount pressures on Iran. Israel is sensing that Iran, under the current conditions of hostility with the US, is not after an escalation of tensions in the region and would avoid any measure leading to war, so it is the best time (for Israel) to attack the positions of pro-Iranian organizations and currents in the regional countries. In fact, the Israeli strikes complement the US’ massive economic sanctions against Iran. Israel believes that Iran would not show a serious reaction to these bombings, and that it (Israel) would be able to rebuild its military credibility and violence on the ground,” Alayee added.

“Whenever the diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions between Iran and the US are stepped up, Israel becomes deeply concerned. The recent diplomatic pressures from Iran to force the US to retreat and the French president’s attempt to extract concessions from Trump for saving the JCPOA have scared Netanyahu. Maybe the Israeli prime minister is trying to make up for the defeat of American credibility after downing of the spy drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Maybe Iran would not need to react directly for now. At present, if the governments of Lebanon, Iraq and Syria do not disapprove, the Hezbollah and Hashd al-Sha’abi will be able to cope with Israel and establish deterrence,” the ex-general concluded.