EU official: Israel wants to provoke Iranian response whilst Trump in office

Israel aims to provoke Iran into a confrontation before the US general election in November, an EU intelligence official has said, according i24 News.

In reference to a chain of recent fires and explosions, the official said that Israel was instigating a “maximum pressure, minimal strategy”.

He said: “I fear the Israeli plan here is to provoke an Iranian response that can turn into a military escalation while [US President Donald] Trump remains in office.”

It is feared, the official claimed, that if Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden won the general election, he would less of an appetite for operations against Iran. He claimed the Israelis feared “there would be a lot less appetite for adventures and secret missions to blow up nuclear facilities.”

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Earlier this year, a security official allegedly leaked information that Israel was responsible for the recent attacks on Iran, although Defense Minister Benny Gantz has claimed that not all of the attacks were Israel’s doing.

However, Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman accused Mossad Chief, Yossi Cohen of speaking the press and leaking in information.

Lieberman said: “An intelligence official says that Israel is responsible for an explosion in Iran on Thursday … The country’s entire security echelon knows who it is.”

“I expect the prime minister to shut [the] mouth [of whoever leaked the information].”