Assassinations of nuclear scientists, a sophisticated cyber-attack, and now, last weekend, a mysterious blast at a munitions base that has killed the "godfather" of Iran's ballistic missile programme.
The explosion at the Bid Ganeh base was so powerful, it killed 17 Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers and rattled windows in Tehran several miles away.
Iran says it was an accident, but few who follow events there are convinced.
The recent talk may be all about a future, desperate last-ditch military strike by Israel to destroy Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme, but to all appearances, a covert "black ops" campaign to disrupt it has already been under way for some time.
At least three Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in the past two years, and last winter, a computer virus codenamed Stuxnet was introduced into Iran's nuclear enrichment centrifuges, causing havoc and setting back the programme by several months.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15741989#story_continues_2The explosion at the Bid Ganeh base was so powerful, it killed 17 Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers and rattled windows in Tehran several miles away.
Iran says it was an accident, but few who follow events there are convinced.
The recent talk may be all about a future, desperate last-ditch military strike by Israel to destroy Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme, but to all appearances, a covert "black ops" campaign to disrupt it has already been under way for some time.
At least three Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in the past two years, and last winter, a computer virus codenamed Stuxnet was introduced into Iran's nuclear enrichment centrifuges, causing havoc and setting back the programme by several months.
Mahan Abedin, editor of Terrorism Monitor published by the Jamestown Foundation, says: "The assassination of Iran's scientists and the introduction of the Stuxnet computer virus last year constitute state terrorism." No-one, of course, is claiming responsibility for these actions, but US intelligence is widely believed to have had a hand in developing the Stuxnet virus, while Iranian officials have previously accused Israel of being behind the assassinations.
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