The war in the Middle East is in its 7th day. Essential aspects were covered in my Tribune Sunday Magazine article titled, "Rising Lion, True Promise: the Israel-Iran shadow war goes hot" on 15 June. As discerned, from eliminating Iran's ability to acquire nuclear weapons; and to 'facilitate' regime change in Tehran, the US-Israel nexus now demands unconditional surrender of the Islamic Republic. Israel reckons nuclear weapons in the hand of clerics would continue to pose it an 'existential threat', therefore removal of both is an imperative.

IDF's current targeting strategy of killing almost the entire Irani military, leadership and important political, religious leaders and scientists; its wide-ranging attacks on infrastructure; its operations against Irani military facilities, in addition to nuclear installations at Natanz, Fordow, Bushehr, IR-40 (Arak) and elsewhere are aimed at achieving these dual objectives. Tel Aviv reckons Irani regime stands on shaky grounds due to prolonged sanctions, poor economic performance, political unrest and degradation of its regional clout and proxy potential. Hence persistent operations 'would' lead to the regime change but before that nuclear potential has to be taken out.

For this, Israel had been 'shaping the environment' for years through military and diplomatic coercion, assassinations, cyber-attacks and degradation of Iran's 3H (Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi) proxies through relentless overt and covert military, cyber and sabotage operations. Mossad has deep ingress at sensitive levels of the Irani state and society as substantiated by the recent assassinations of Irani scientists and military,........

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