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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 'Fire Terror.' Why Forests, Ports, and Factories Are Burning in Israel and Iran |
| 2025-05-06 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] In recent days, Israel has thrown significant resources into fighting forest fires that have caused financial and reputational damage to the country and fueled spy mania that had died down. Official Tel Aviv, sometimes with half-hints and sometimes quite directly, points to the presence of an “Iranian trace.” However, this tendency is also observed on the other side of the “front”: in Iran, there are also forces seeking to give local conflagrations a spy flair. But the parties are in no hurry to blame each other. THE FIREFIGHTERS COULDN'T COPE The first fires were detected in mid-April, but the Israeli fire service was unable to quickly deal with them. Due to dry and windy weather, the flames spread rapidly, and new ones flared up in place of the fires that had already been extinguished. Soon, the country's fire service was transferred to a special "Fire Strike" mode, which is introduced only in cases of a threat of losing control over the situation. Other agencies came to the aid of the firefighters. In total, more than a hundred fire brigades and dozens of specialized aircraft, including those provided by other countries, participated in the firefighting effort. Army units were also deployed to extinguish the fire, especially in areas where military facilities were threatened. The situation was brought under relative control only by May 1, and firefighters continued to eliminate the remaining fires using their own resources. GREAT DAMAGE The forest fires have become the most destructive and large-scale in recent decades. Authorities are still calculating the damage, but even preliminary figures are impressive: the fire has destroyed property and facilities worth tens of millions of dollars. And taking into account the costs incurred due to the disruption of rail, road and (partially) air traffic, the amount increases several times. More than 2 thousand hectares of forest burned, including the unique nature reserve Ayanot Givaton. In addition, the state of emergency has increased tensions between civilian and military structures. Some of the General Staff leadership expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the government has created an additional burden on the army at a time when it is involved in a large-scale campaign in Gaza. The reputation of the emergency warning system also suffered. Emergency services were not prepared for the rampage of the elements and did not acquire a sufficient number of aircraft suitable for night-time firefighting. And this is despite the fire reform of 2018, which was supposed to eliminate the shortage of special equipment. It is not surprising that the investigation into the causes of the disaster was placed under special control, and operatives from the General Security Service (Shabak) were involved in the investigation from the very first days. GANG OF ARSONISTS Barely had the danger passed when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to inform the public of the initial results of the investigation. He reported that the police and Shin Bet had detained 18 people, mostly citizens of Arab origin. According to the prime minister, one of the suspects was even caught red-handed when he tried to start a fire in an open area in the southern part of the capital. However, a little later, the security forces carefully adjusted the data provided by the prime minister: only three potential arsonists were taken into custody (one of whom was actually detained at the scene of the crime). The other defendants were only engaged in incitement on social networks, approving of other people's arson and positioning it as a form of protest against the government's policies. Therefore, they got off with a stern warning. Despite the fact that the official version of the causes of the disaster remains careless handling of fire, a significant part of society is convinced that the fires were man-made and that Iranian agents were involved in the matter. Moreover, some of the large fires were located far from tourist trails (but relatively close to critical infrastructure facilities), and the vector of most of the fires was directed towards the capital. The “spy” version is fueled by numerous “anonymous sources” in the police and intelligence services, who say that the operation to create a “fire shaft” was skillfully disguised as a natural fire. The perpetrators allegedly had clear instructions and a common goal: to disrupt Israel's Independence Day celebrations and ensure that the torch-lighting ceremony, the holiday's main event, is cancelled. Moreover, the symbolic fire was supposed to be lit by Mossad officers who distinguished themselves during the “pager attack” against Lebanese Hezbollah last year. Ultimately, the goal was achieved: the ceremony was cancelled, and only footage from the dress rehearsal was shown. STRANGE COINCIDENCES However, it was not only Israel that suffered from the fire, but also Iran. Over the past week, fires broke out within a day of each other at a power plant in Karaj and at a motorcycle factory in Mashhad. At the same time, new outbreaks periodically broke out throughout the week in the port of Shahid Rajaee, where a chemical explosion occurred on April 26. The Iranian authorities call the incident a “series of accidents” and urge not to look for “spy trails,” especially since the objects are located in different parts of the country and are related to civilian infrastructure. Moreover, unlike in Israel, in all cases the fires were quickly extinguished and the damage caused was minimal. However, even with this formulation of the question, some Iranian "hawks" do not consider the fires an accident, although their arguments are not as loud as in Israel. In large part because the Iranian security forces do not yet have any significant evidence of external involvement - at least, publicly. Observers have also linked the series of strange fires in Iran to the recent execution of Mohsen Langarneshin, a senior Mossad agent who worked in Iran. It is known that Langarneshin, before his arrest, collected data on vulnerabilities in the protection of the country's energy facilities and factories, and with the sudden fires, Tel Aviv could well have hinted that the executed man was not the only Israeli figure in the Iranian rear, thereby provoking a "witch hunt." One way or another, neither Tel Aviv nor Tehran are in a hurry to officially accuse their counterparts of deliberate arson, preferring to collect a more convincing evidence base. However, it should not be ruled out that after some time, the “fiery terror” will be included in a louder and larger-scale spy story, as has already happened more than once in the Iranian-Israeli confrontation. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Interesting... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2025-05-06 01:16 |