Fires and explosions have been reported across Iran for over two weeks, torching industrial facilities, apartment buildings, and a road near a major airport. Three Iranian officials, including a member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), suggested the incidents were orchestrated by Israel, The New York Times reported.
The officials blamed Israel because of its reputation of undercover operations — involving explosions and assassinations — in Iran over the course of its history. A European official involved with Iran also said the attacks suspected the incidents to be acts of sabotage by Israel as forms of psychological warfare and eliminating targets, the report said.
During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, Israel hacked into Iran’s air defense system and caused over 100 Iranian missile launchers to explode upon activation, an Iranian analyst told Iran Insight in a newspaper interview. The analyst also said Israel had hacked Iran’s entire defense system.
The analyst told the outlet that now that Israel has learned how, it holds the ability to infiltrate and manipulate the country’s systems.
“If Iran is trying to replenish its air defense systems and return to its previous capacity, it’s basically reinstalling the same system — one that Israel can take down again,” he said.
According to the NYT report, Iranian authorities are cautious over publicly suspecting Israel as responsible for these events because they do not want to engage in retaliation after their air defense and missile launchers were damaged and significantly weakened in the 12-day June war with Israel.