WarSclerotic

Iranian media on Sunday gleefully reported a rift among Israel leadership, with the semiofficial Mehr news agency writing of “differences of opinion among the leadership of the occupying Zionist entity.”

The headlines appeared after several prominent Israeli figures, including former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert both came out against an Iranian strike. Their stances run directly against those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who have both said Iran is inching toward a nuclear weapon, with the intent of using it against Israel.

The Internet page of Iran’s Press TV outlet ran a report on Sunday in which they wrote “Former ISA chief: Netanyahu and Barak are not worthy of leading the regime.”

Turkish media also related to internal differences of opinion in Israel. The Turkish daily Today’s Zaman ran a piece with the headline “Former superspy Diskin warns of a messianic war against Iran.”

Meanwhile, a prominent Iranian lawmaker said the reported basing of America’s most sophisticated stealth jet fighters in the United Arab Emirates is a U.S.-Israel plot to create regional instability.

Kazem Jalali was reacting to media reports of the recent deployment of F-22 Raptors at the U.A.E.’s Al Dhafra Air Base, which has long hosted U.S. warplanes.

The deployment was first reported in the journal Aviation Week, but U.S. and U.A.E. officials have not publicly commented.

Jalali was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency Sunday.

Tehran and Washington are at odds over Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. and Israel say Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. The two countries have not ruled out military action against Iranian facilities.

According to The New York Times on Sunday, U.S. officials and outside analysts believe that the chances of war with Iran in the near future have significantly decreased.

According to the Times report, tougher economic sanctions compelled the Iranians to offer a more flexible approach to the U.S. and other powers involved in the talks. In addition, a rift among Israeli political and military leaders concerning a strike on Iran may also be a factor in reducing the imminence of war, the report said. In addition, the White House appears to be set on preventing a conflict that would damage crude oil markets during its election year.

“I do think the temperature has cooled,” an Obama administration official was quoted in the report as saying this week.