Israel's efforts to keep Iran at bay span many fields, focusing not only on thwarting Tehran's nefarious military plans but also on countering Iranian espionage schemes against the Jewish state.
The ayatollah's regime, however, has no intention of relenting on its efforts to recruit Israeli citizens to spy for it. In a seemingly direct message to Jerusalem, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi said Friday that "there are many people in the Zionist entity who are willing to cooperate with Iran."
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He then turned his sites on the United States, declaring it was "no longer a superpower."
The US "wanted to destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran 41 years ago and failed. They wanted to eliminate Hezbollah 30 years ago and failed and they tried to destroy Hamas 20 years ago and failed," he said referring to his country's proxies in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, respectively.
"They also tried to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad nine years ago and failed – just as they did five years ago [in dealing with] the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
"America cannot fight small countries, let alone a superpower like Iran," Naqdi asserted.
Tehran's objective is to undermine US President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential elections, Israeli intelligence and security expert Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser told Israel Hayom.
"The Iranians are currently concentrating on the US election – nothing is more important to them the results of the US election. The Iranian interest is to see Trump lose," he explained.
On the issue of Iran's espionage efforts in Israel, Kuperwasser said that "there is no doubt that the Iranians are very determined [to spy on Israel], whether directly or by using their allies to obtain sources of intelligence and cooperation within Israel, both from the Arab and Jewish sectors.
"The Iranians are investing considerable resources on the issue, but their means are limited. Israel has an intelligence dominance vis-à-vis the Iranians, as we've seen, for example, with respect to exposing Hezbollah weapon depots in Beirut and over the nuclear issue.
"It is probable that Israel keeps most efforts to thwart Iran's [espionage] efforts classified. Really, much of what Iran wants to do is to cause Israel equal embarrassment," he concluded.
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