New Delhi: Iran is “doubling down” and “digging (its heels) in” amid the ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel and is dipping into its “underground” stock of drones and missiles but there is “no intention (on the part of the US and Israel) to invade Iran, Israel’s ambassador to India Reuven Azar has said. Pointing out that the war may last for another “few weeks”, he also indicated that Israel was ready for an end to the conflict “if the Iranians decide that they want to cooperate”, and said his country is completely “in sync with the US”. He added Israel “does not want to enter into an endless war”. On India negotiating with Iran for safe passage of Indian vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, he further said every nation has a right to protect its interests.
On the Israeli strike on February 28, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit (February 25-26) to the Jewish state, Mr Azar said: “It was evident that the situation was very volatile in our region even before Prime Minister Modi came. When it came to the decision to strike, the operational opportunity came only after Mr Modi left (Israel).” Mr Azar reiterated the position taken by his country’s foreign minister Gideon Saar who had said in a virtual interaction at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi earlier this month that the decision to launch an offensive against Iran was only taken on February 28 and so the Israeli government could not brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi about it as he had completed his two-day visit to Israel and returned to India on February 26 itself.
Dismissing rumours about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s health, the Israeli envoy said: “Mr Netanyahu is alive. I saw him when I was in Israel more than once. The video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. A lot of disinformation is being spread.”
On the Iranian strategy of choking global oil supplies, the Israeli envoy said at a press conference here that “Iran does not have the capacity to paralyse (global) energy networks in the long run”.
“The Iranians have decided to go underground,” Mr Azar said, but added that they (Iranians) are in “dire straits” with the Iranian military capacity being “diminished”. He said that to “help the Iranian people”, and that Israel is targeting the “Basij (Iranian) forces”, adding that the Basij had suppressed uprising of the Iranian people recently and had tormented them. “We will see if regime change (in Iran) happens or not,” he stated.
Pointing out that the US and Israel “control the skies over Iran”, the Israeli envoy claimed the ability of Iran to produce ballistic missiles has now “come down to zero” and that the launching power has been “degraded by 70 per cent”. Asked about the situation at the Strait of Hormuz and hurdles faced in shipping due to the conflict, Mr Azar said that Israelis “are consulting (various countries) through diplomatic channels on how we can stabilise the situation”, adding that “we will update our Indian friends”.
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