The Sunday Times reported in its last issue that Israel was behind the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, the Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed last week as a result of a bomb attached to his car. The report explains that Mossad agents planned the assassination for many months. It also quoted an unnamed Israeli source who claimed that the killing was a prelude to a military strike against Iran.
The Iranian government has identified American, British and Israeli agents as responsible for the assassination of the scientist. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the killing, the reaction from Israel was mute, while the U.S. and U.K. governments denied any involvement in the assassination.
This is not the first time that Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in the streets of Tehran. During the last three years, three other scientists were killed with the same sophisticated method indicating that the terrorists were operating on behalf of an intelligence service hostile to Iran.
Last week, Foreign Policy magazine claimed that an internal CIA assessment has indicated that Israeli intelligence agents, posing as CIA agents, have recruited members of the terrorist organization Jundollah to wage terrorist activities in Iran. This organization has, during the past several years, been responsible for terrorist activities inside Iran in which many innocent civilians have been killed.
Since the early days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Israel has been overtly and covertly engaged in activities to topple the government of the Islamic Republic. It has also resorted to terrorism as a means to achieve its goal. The Israeli lobby in Western capitals, particularly in Washington, has invested a lot of energy and money to promote Iranophobia and to persuade politicians and lawmakers to take tough decisions against Iran. During the current nuclear standoff, Israel has been pushing hard to fan the flames of another war in the region. Even the Israeli push for hard-hitting sanctions against Iran is seen as tantamount to to a call for regime change.
The Israeli government feels that it is not going to lose anything if it can convince Washington to initiate a war against Iran. The Obama administration has, up to now, resisted such a move even at a time when it is being attacked by most Republican candidates running for the presidency this year as being too soft on Iran. If Obama changes course and resorts to military means against Iran, the Israelis will celebrate. And in the event the U.S. president continues to resist the temptation of war, Israelis will continue to promote a military option with the hope that a Republican candidate will win the November election.
Initiation of a conflict may seem to be easy; however, ending it will definitely deplete many human and material resources. The experiences of the U.S. involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq should teach all that the use of force does not always solve all problems. Instead of war and conflict, dialog should be promoted. The recent move to restart the nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 countries should be supported by everyone.
