Iran launches drone war against Israel

Recent developments suggest that Iran has launched a drone war against Israel. The drone, a pilotless predator, can be used for reconnaissance purposes, besides hitting given targets with bombs and missiles with quite precision. It will be pertinent to mention here that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) downed a drone last week violating its airspace. Later, Hezbollah claimed to have sent the drone into Israeli airspace for the purpose of reconnaissance. Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based outfit, is considered a proxy of Iran. The United States has labeled the outfit a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) for its activities against Israel.

The outfit is also funded and supported by Iranian leadership. It is believed that Hezbollah is equipped with sophisticated weapons including rockets and missiles. As tension between Israel and Iran is growing over the latter’s controversial nuclear program, Hezbollah is keeping a close vigil on Israel. Chief of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah has even threatened Israel of dire consequences if it dares to attack the nuclear facilities of Iran. He warned Israeli officials to abstain from any such adventure or be prepared for strikes on its nuclear facilities by Hezbollah.

A senior Iranian military official claimed on Tuesday that Iranian drones have entered Israeli airspace for a dozen of times over the past year to probe air defenses and collect reconnaissance data. He, however, declined to furnish further details on the issue. Both the countries, Iran and Israel, have been putting their best to keep a vigil on activities of each other.

Israel denied the reports that Iranian surveillance drones made undetected flights into Israeli airspace.

Iran has earlier boasted to have built long-range, indigenous drones and warships. So, the move can just be to tell the world that the country has made military advances over the past couple of years.

The war of words started between officials of both the sides following the drone infiltration into Israel last week. Israeli officials claimed the last week interception of the drone was the first time such an infiltration had taken place. They claimed that the surveillance drone was spotted well before time and downed immediately after it entered the Israeli airspace. A number of observers based here in New York City opine that it may be a tactic on the part of Iranian officials to portray Israel as a vulnerable state to Iran and its proxies.

Anyhow, Israel will have to be extra cautious about the latest campaign launched by Iran against it. At this point, one thing that is sure is that Iran has built drones and can use them against Israel at any point in future. It also appears that Iran has successfully turned away the attention from its controversial nuclear program to drone surveillance.