WarSclerotic

Off Topic: Bolton: Obama, Clinton, Kerry doctrine ‘drift, decline, and defeatism’ – YouToube.

The Objective: To Embarrass Iran.

Amir Rapaport’s interpretation of the IDF Navy’s raid on the Iranian weapons boat: what really happened and what Israel wanted to achieve through that naval action off the coast of Sudan

The Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff during the operation (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, IMOD)

Israel is in the midst of a meaningful strategic national effort to expose what we perceive as a fraud on the part of Iran on the West, which is eager to negotiate with the Iranians and ease the sanctions, even without them giving up on their nuclear program.

The background is a deep frustration: The Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon, sat down a few weeks ago at a conference in Munich with world leaders, and witnessed them rubbing against the Iranian foreign minister without believing one word which came out of his mouth. As part of the national effort , all the intelligence agencies and operations were guided to bring a proof that Iran haven’t really changed its ways – namely, that it continues to strive for a nuclear bomb and to stoke terrorism in every corner of the globe (and not just in our area).

In terms of the strategic effort, the seizure of the weapons ship is a significant event, and its timing is not bad as well – just at the time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the United States, trying to convince Americans that the Iranians are still a most terrible enemy.

However, in terms of the operational effort, this is not an extraordinary event: Israel has been committed for several years to the declared policy of preventing the arrival of weapons of strategic significance to both Hezbollah in Lebanon and into the hands of elements in Gaza. In the Gaza Strip this effort is particularly important in light of the severe damage caused to the array of long-range rockets of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad during “Pillar of Defense” operation a year and four months ago. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad have trouble to recreate the arsenal they had on the eve of the operation, since the current military regime in Egypt succeeded to almost completely seal the smuggling tunnels in the Rafah area, and the Israeli counterterrorism efforts spread across the entire Middle East.

In the militaryjargon, this effort is called “the war between wars”. According to foreign reports, the IAF and the Israeli Navy Commando have not once acted in Sudan in recent years to destroy arms shipments which were destined to reach, according to the intelligence, to the Gaza Strip.

The fact that the act occurred, according to publications, in Sudan can be considered reasonable: Iran is on a path of the arms transfers from Iran to Gaza. As part of this path, weapons are transported in ships from the Persian Gulf to dry storage in the Sudanese territory, and from there transferred in conveys of trucks, through Sinai, to the tunnels of Rafah.

Iran’s foreign operations organization conducts this operation. The fact that the Iranian and Gazans adhesive that path despite the preventive efforts can testify that they have occasional successes, but as a rule the Gaza Strip is now considered to be “dry” of deadly Iranian weapons.

The fact that the Navy has conducted such a complex operation, which could have gone bad 1500 kilometers away from home , even though the preparations for it were ongoing for months , instead of a less dangerous aerial attack , can be explained by the idea that in the present situation it is better to catch the weapons and thereby embarrass Iran, rather than destroy it. Therefore, the military effort in Africa was accompanied immediately by a political effort against Iran, and a wide Israeli public diplomacy effort, already before the ship even reached the port of Eilat.

However, do not underestimate the strategic danger of the arrival of the shipment to Gaza (had the weapon reach the Gaza Strip, it would be sent mostly to warehouses of the Islamic Jihad, and a minority of it, perhaps, would be sent to warehouses of Hamas).

The information indicated in advance that is a supply of rockets with warheads containing more than 100 kilograms of explosives. Yesterday morning (March 5th), at ten o’clock already, IDF’s Navy Commando troops discovered several M- 302 missiles with a range of up to 90 km, like those fired from Lebanon on the north (similar sized rocket exploded during the war at a train depot in Haifa, killing 8 and wounding dozens) . The exact amount of the weapon caught will be clear only when the ship will reach Eilat and the containers will be checked one by one (overall on board of the ship there are no less than 150 containers, but some pictures of the weapons taken yesterday have already done the work).

The Israeli operation achieved thanks to these pictures its main objective – exposing the real face of Iran. But would the world be interested in the Israeli gospel or would it prefer to keep with the Iranian dance? The answer to this question is no longer dependent on the IDF.

 

Iran’s attempt to evade Iron Dome failed – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Analysis: Iranian arms smuggling was likely aimed at preparing ground for response to attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. Question remains whether weapons were intended to reach Gaza organizations or Sinai terrorists. Admirable intelligence move spared Israel the answer.

The takeover of the Klos-C ship exposed and foiled a strategic Iranian move which, had it been successful, would have been worthy of the definition “tiebreaker.” The move was aimed at creating a situation in which, during an active conflict, the IDF missile and rocket interception system would be neutralized or would at least become inefficient.

First of all, because according to foreign reports the Iron Dome system is incapable – or finds it difficult – to intercept heavy and long-range rockets like the Syrian-made M-302 that were captured. These medium-range rockets of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) with a warhead weighing over 140 kilograms (310 pounds) are supposed to be intercepted by another system, Magic Wand (also called David’s Sling), which is still being developed in the United States and Israel.

This critical system, which will be the “second layer” in the multi-layer interception system the defense establishment is planning, will not become operational before 2016. So had the rockets reached Gaza, they would have allowed the Iranian’s allies bordering on Israel to go around the Iron Dome system from the top, go around the Arrow system from the bottom, and explode unhindered in population concentrations in Israel – mainly in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area and Haifa Bay.

During the Second Lebanon War, the Syrian-planned and manufactured 302-milimeter M-302 rockets proved how lethal and reliable they are. They are not accurate, but their heavy warhead and the reliability of the rocket motor make them a cheap “statistical weapon” which allows targeting large civilian communities and causing them heavy losses and damages.

Software improvements have been made recently in the Iron Dome system, allowing it to also deal with heavier rockets than the short-range and relatively light Grad. During Operation Pillar of Defense, Iron Dome intercepted medium rockets of the Fajr-5 or M-75 models, made independently by Palestinians, which have a range of more than 70 kilometers (44 miles).

But the limited number of Iron Dome batteries the IDF operates will make it very difficult to overpower a large amount of heavy and really long-range rockets like the M-202 or M-302, which will arrive from several directions at the same time, for example from Lebanon and Gaza, or from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria.

The initiative of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force was aimed first and foremost at serving Iran, rather than Hamas, Hezbollah or Bashar Assad. The Quds Force organized a very complicated logistic operation here, which cost tens of millions of dollars and was carried out secretly while risking an exposure of the violation of UN sanctions by Iran and the Syrian regime.

Israeli Navy during operation to seize arms ship (Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office)

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry)

Tie-breaking weapon (Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office)

 Hezbollah and the Syrians have had thousands of heavy M-302 and M-202 rockets for a long time. The decision to fly a large amount of these heavy rockets from Syria to Iran in order to equip Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza with them, and likely other groups as well, points to strategic planning.

Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani would not have entered such an adventure if it were not a supreme strategic Iranian interest. For example, in case Iran decides to initiate an overall high-trajectory offensive on Israel through its messengers: Hezbollah, Syria and the Gazans.

When will Iran decide on such a move?

It’s reasonable to assume that this is a response scenario to an IDF and/or American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In such a case, it’s completely reasonable to estimate that the Iranians would demand that the Syrians and Hezbollah, as well as the Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza and likely also terrorists in Sinai, deal Israel a lethal blow of rockets and missiles on its entire territory.

The Iranians are aware that the situation changed when Israel, with American aid, built a multi-layer rocket interception system. They are concerned that this system will eventually affect their ability to deal Israel a high-trajectory strategic blow, and are therefore preparing a system which will largely neutralize the abilities of Israel’s active defense system for at least two years and maybe more – until the Magic Wand system becomes operational.

Further proof that this is a supreme strategic Iranian interest and planning can be found in the fact that Suleimani and his men from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as Bashar Assad’s men, were willing to hold their nose and send a delivery of expensive strategic weapons to their bitter enemy, the Sunni Hamas organization, which betrayed the Syrian regime and turned its back on it during its rough time.

It’s possible that the delivery was only intended for the Islamic Jihad, which is now operating as Iran’s main branch in the Palestinian camp, but there is not a single chance that Hamas would have let such a cargo enter the Strip or even Sinai without an early agreement with the Iranians. It’s possible that the distressed Hamas even received financial or other aid from the Iranians in return for its participation in the operation.

Headed to Sinai peninsula

Nonetheless, the Iranian operation raises two critical questions. First of all, it’s not at all clear how the Iranians planned to transfer such a large number of long-range and heavy rockets by land from Sudan through Egypt to Gaza. It’s enough to remember the fact that the Egyptian army is tightly monitoring the smuggling tunnels from Sinai and the Strip and systematically destroying them. How did the Iranians and Palestinians plan to transfer such a shipment to Gaza under the Egyptians’ nose? The answer may be that the plan was to transfer the rockets to their destination in “drizzles,” over a long period of time.

Another question is how the Gazans planned to launch these large rockets from the Strip. After all, they are easily noticeable from the air when being prepared for launching, and likely beforehand too, and they can be accurately bombed from the air, sea and land, even if they are activated from underground launching holes prepared for them.

The obvious conclusion in light of these two questions is that a large part of the rockets on the arms ship – perhaps even all of them – were meant to reach Sinai and be activated from there. It’s possible that the Gazans (Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees) were supposed to leave the Strip for Sinai and build a hidden launching system there in an isolated area which the Egyptian army finds it difficult to reach and control, for example in Jabal Halal (height provides the M-302 with extra range).

The IDF does not enter Sinai and Israel Air Force planes don’t fly in the peninsula’s airspace so as not to violate the Egyptian sovereignty. The military regime in Egypt is known to be very sensitive about its national honor, and so an M-302 launching system in Sinai is ideal.

It’s even possible that radical Sunni organization Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, would have joined the move initiate by its bitter enemies, the Shiite Iranians. The rockets would have been transferred bit by bit, under the Egyptian army’s nose, to the area where the hidden launching system would have been located – and the rest would have been written in the pages of history.

Missed opportunity in US media

In light of the strategic intentions and effort put in by the Iranians, one can say that the exposure and seizure of the Karine A vessel in the height of the second intifada (2002) is the only equivalent of the takeover of Klos-C in March 2014. This is an admirable achievement of the intelligence community.

Like in any successful intelligence-operational campaign, the main accomplishment belong to those who exposed the initial information, the lead, realized that they had something unusual in their hands and decided to share it with others in the community and set a complex move in motion, in which the Mossad showed an ability which vitally complemented what was achieved by the optical and electronic tracking sensors operated by the Intelligence Directorate.

The Intelligence Directorate also built the overall picture, and its people not only estimates correctly “what is going on here” but were also able to provide operational intelligence which allowed the heads of the IDF’s operational system, led by the chief of staff, to present an optimal thwarting plane.

It’s important to stress that the detailed and accurate real-time intelligence information provided the military and political leaders with something worth a fortune: The freedom of choice. They were able to decide which of the thwarting options would provide optimal results with minimum casualties and minimum political, public opinion, legal and media damages.

As is customary in such cases, the Operations Directorate and division commanders place a number of options on the defense minister, prime minister and chief of staff’s table. For example, bombing from the air or raiding from the sea or other types of operations which were looked into and found to be reliable in the past.

Thanks to the detailed intelligence information, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz was able to recommend to Minister Ya’alon and Prime Minister Netanyahu an outline of operation which is both in line with the international maritime law, does not involve any special risk to human life and provides several desirable outcomes: Not just thwarting the Iranian plans and their ramifications, but also a nice public opinion-PR achievement, and mainly in good timing, with Netanyahu in the US, less than 24 hours after he warned President Obama in a conversation in his office against the fraudulent and deceitful methods used by the Iranians.

It’s a shame, however, that the American media is mostly busy right now with the Ukrainian affair and the administration budget for next year, which Obama presented to the Congress and the public on Tuesday. The American media, like the media in the entire world, has a limited attention span and it is mainly occupied with domestic issues.

So Israel missed an opportunity to illustrate to the American public that the Klos-C, sent in an Iranian violation of UN Security Council resolutions, is just an allegory of what the ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards are doing in Fordo and in other nuclear facilities “for peaceful purposes.”

Israel Hayom | US: We helped Israel intercept illicit arms shipment.

IDF intel head: Revolutionary Guards behind arms shipment | The Times of Israel.

Aviv Kochavi says Iran will halt weapons smuggling until it discovers who leaked information to Israel

By Marissa Newman March 6, 2014, 5:14 pm

Illustrative photo of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (photo credit: @MidEastNews_Eng via Twitter/File)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, specifically its elite Quds Force, is behind the attempt to smuggle weapons to the Gaza Strip that was thwarted by Israeli troops on Wednesday, the head of military intelligence said at a press conference on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said the Revolutionary Guards opened an investigation following the navy operation, and will likely hold off on further arms shipments until they discover who leaked the information to the Israeli intelligence.

“According to our assessments, they will stop attempts to smuggle arms in the southern axis for a few months,” Kochavi said. “Exposing the ship spurred an investigation in the Revolutionary Guards on the leaks that led to the failed attempt to transfer the weapons.”

Israel intercepted the “Klos-C” in the Red Sea between Eritrea and Sudan on Wednesday, claiming that Syrian-made weapons aboard had been shipped overland to Iran then onward by sea, with the aim of reaching militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Military Intelligence Director Major General Aviv Kochavi attends a Foreign Affairs and Security committee meeting on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. (photo credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90)

“This ship, which was transporting dozens of M302-type rockets with a range of 150 to 200 kilometers (more than 100 miles) is currently north of Port Sudan and will arrive in Eilat on Saturday evening,” Brigadier General Motti Almoz told Army Radio Thursday.

“The ship may be carrying other weapons as well but we can only know this when it reaches Eilat,” he said, referring to the resort city at the southernmost tip of Israel.

“There is clear and unequivocal information that this (shipment) came from Iran,” he said, without giving further details.

Kochavi stressed that the Israel has strong evidence that “strengthens and incriminates the Iranian ties to the case.”

Speaking in California, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the discovery revealed “the true face of Iran” in a rebuke aimed at world powers who are negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear program.

IDF soldiers inspect a missile found on board Klos-C in a commando operation Wednesday morning. The military says the ship was carrying an Iranian arms shipment headed for Gaza (Photo credit: IDF)

Israel has long accused Iran and Syria of providing military aid to Hezbollah and to Palestinian terrorist groups.

An Iranian military official denied the allegations regarding the shipment, saying they were “totally without foundation,” according to a report by Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam television channel.

AFP contributed to this report.

Watch the IDF Navy capture the Iran missile smuggling ship ! – YouTube.

–

–

Missile boats and Shayetett 13 (Israel’s SEALs) do the job!

–

Israel Hayom | In ‘perfect’ operation, Israel reveals Iran’s true face.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Red Sea interception of Gaza-bound arms shipment: While Iran talks with world powers, it brazenly flouts international law and arms Palestinian terrorists • PM: Israel will defend itself against any threat, anywhere.

Lilach Shoval, Shlomo Cesana, Yori Yalon, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

Seized arms ship to dock in Eilat Saturday | The Times of Israel.

IDF general says there is ‘clear and unequivocal’ evidence that shipment came from Iran

By AFP March 6, 2014, 1:16 pm

Footage of the capture of the Klos-C on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. (Screen capture: IDF)

A ship allegedly carrying advanced rockets from Iran to Gaza that was intercepted by the Israeli navy will reach the port of Eilat on Saturday evening, the military said.

“This ship, which was transporting dozens of M302-type rockets with a range of 150 to 200 kilometers (more than 100 miles) is currently north of Port Sudan and will arrive in Eilat on Saturday evening,” Brigadier General Motti Almoz told Army Radio Thursday.

“The ship may be carrying other weapons as well but we can only know this when it reaches Eilat,” he said, referring to the resort city at the southernmost tip of Israel.

“There is clear and unequivocal information that this (shipment) came from Iran,” he said, without giving further details.

Major General Aviv Kochavi, head of military intelligence, was to give a news conference on the ship later Thursday. The IDF has said it was carrying rockets “capable of striking anywhere in Israel.”

Israel intercepted the “Klos-C” in the Red Sea between Eritrea and Sudan on Wednesday, claiming that Syrian-made weapons aboard had been shipped overland to Iran then onward by sea, with the aim of reaching militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Speaking in California, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the discovery revealed “the true face of Iran” in a rebuke aimed at world powers who are negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear program.

Israel has long accused Iran and Syria of providing military aid to Hezbollah and to Palestinian terrorist groups.

An Iranian military official denied the allegations regarding Wednesday’s shipment, saying they were “totally without foundation,” according to a report by Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam television channel.

The announcement about the ship was made just hours after Israel said its troops had fired at two Hezbollah fighters in Syria as they tried to plant a bomb close to the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights.

On February 24, Israeli warplanes reportedly bombed a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon near the Syrian border, in what would be the first air strikes against the Shiite militant group in Lebanon since the 2006 war.

Hezbollah blamed the air strikes on Israel and vowed to retaliate.

US says ‘still appropriate’ to pursue nuclear deal despite Iran arms shipment | JPost | Israel News.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

03/06/2014 09:34

White House spokesman says talks to continue, but US “will continue to stand up to Iran’s support for destabilizing activities in the region.”

It is entirely appropriate to continue to pursue the possibility of reaching a resolution on the nuclear program, White House Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday, despite confirmation that Israel had intercepted a ship containing weapons heading from Tehran to Gaza.

Carney said that talks will go on, but acknowledged that there were struggles within the US to accept Tehran’s stance on many issues.

“We continue to have enormous issues with Iran, its sponsorship of terrorist organizations, its bad behavior in the region that manifests itself in many ways. And we continue to take all the necessary steps to address those challenges,” he said.

“Even as we continue efforts to resolve our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy, we will continue to stand up to Iran’s support for destabilizing activities in the region, in coordination with our partners and allies, and made clear that these illicit actions are unacceptable to the international community and in gross violation of Iran’s UN Security Council obligations.”

The spokesman also echoed the State Department’s comments, confirming that after becoming aware of the suspected vessel, the White House directed the Department of Defense to monitor the vessel and was prepared to take necessary steps.

“This is part of the robust presence that the president has directed that we continue to maintain in and around the Gulf,” he said.

“Throughout this time, our intelligence and military activities were closely coordinated with our Israeli counterparts who ultimately chose to take the lead in interdicting the shipment of illicit arms.”

(The Klos-C, IDF Spokesperson)
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed on Wednesday that “the Israeli government interdicted a shipment of illicit Iranian arms,” adding that the US was ready to act before Israel made its move.

“The White House directed the Department of Defense to monitor the vessel,” Psaki said, adding that the US prepared to take “unilateral steps” to stop the shipment. Israel volunteered to handle the ship itself, she added.

The transfer of arms would amount to a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, Psaki noted.

First US-Israeli intelligence collaboration in four years against an Iranian military target: Iranian missile ship, DEBKAfile, March 5, 2014

The White House spokesman said that Washington worked with Israeli through intelligence and military channels, and at the national security adviser level, as soon as it knew the shipment was on the move.

In an unusually frank disclosure, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday night, March 5, that US intelligence services and military had worked with Israel to track the Iranian Panama-flagged ship KLOS C, which was apprehended by Israeli naval commandos on the Red Sea earlier that day carrying missiles for Gaza via Sudan. The ship was boarded by the Israeli elite Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13) and found to be carrying dozens of 302mm rockets made in Syria with a range of 150 km made in Syria. It is now on its way to Eilat.

The White House spokesman said that Washington worked with Israeli through intelligence and military channels, and at the national security adviser level, as soon as it knew the shipment was on the move. He said that President Barack Obama also directed the US military to work out contingencies in case it became necessary to intercept the vessel (thereby sanctioning military action).

“Our Israeli counterparts ultimately chose to take the lead in interdicting the shipment of illicit arms,” Jay Carney said.

DEBKAfile reports that this was the first time in four years that the US and Israel have collaborated in an operation against Iran – ever since the Stuxnet virus attack in 2010 on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Until now, the Obama administration steadfastly refused to act against Iran for fear of jeopardizing the international diplomatic track for curbing its nuclear program.

The unusual frankness with which the Obama administration announced its coordination with Israel is both dramatic in itself and a road sign pointing the way to a radical change in its Iran policy. The US and Israel appear to be lining up – in their military policies as well – against the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah bloc.

This radical turnabout was most probably the high point of the conversation between the US president and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday, March 3, after which Netanyahu raised comment by showering Obama with praise during his speech to the AIPAC conference in Washington the next day.

DEBKAfile’s US and Israeli intelligence sources report that both countries are braced for a swift and stinging response from Tehran to the capture of the missile ship and its condemnation by the White House. As Carney put it:  “We will continue to stand up to Iran’s support for destabilizing activities in the region in coordination with our partners and allies.These illicit acts are unacceptable to the international community and in gross violation of Iran’s Security Council obligations.”

Read DEBKAfile’s mearlier report on the interception and capture of the Iranian missile boat in Red Sea waters.

Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13) early Wednesday, March 5, boarded an Iranian Panama-registered cargo vessel KLOS C. Concealed in its hold under sacks of cement were dozens of 302mm rockets with a range of 150 kms, manufactured in Syria and destined by Iran for the Gaza Strip after being offloaded in Sudan.

The Israeli commandos seized the vessel in open sea on the maritime border of Sudan and Eritrea, 1500 south of Israel, and have set it on course for Eilat.

Sudan has been revealed by DEBKAfile’s military sources as having been transformed in the last two years into a major Iranian weapons manufacturing and logistic depot, which supplies Syria, HIzballah and Hamas. Port Sudan is also the hub for the smuggling of Iranian arms to various Middle East locations.

The IDF said the Iranian missile cargo was destined for the Palestinian Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip. If this is so, it would mean that Iran had gone back to arming Hamas with missiles and rockets after a two-year pause during which the Palestinian extremists were cold-shouldered by Tehran for their animosity to Syria’s Bashar Assad.

By the same token, it is hard to believe the Assad would consent to relay Syrian-made missiles to this antagonist. Some Middle East military sources believe the shipment as not destined for Palestinian terrorists for use against Israel, but rather for Muslim Brotherhood activists fighting the Egyptian army from their forward base in the Gaza Strip. They don’t rule out the possibility of Al Qaeda affiliates fighting in Sinai as being the address. Western intelligence has recorded instances of Iran entering into ad hoc operational collaboration with al Qaeda elements when it suits Tehran’s book.

The operation was carried out under an air umbrella by hundreds of naval commandos without casualties. It was directly commanded by the IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz from high command headquarters and the Navy Chief Maj. Gen Ram Rottberg from a floating command post at sea.

The rockets were flown from Syria to Iran, then loaded on a ship where they were concealed under sacks of cement inside containers. From the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, the ship headed into the Red Sea bound for Sudan where it was intercepted by Israeli commandos.

The Iranian arms ship’s progress was tracked all the way.

In congratulating the forces which seized the shipment, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented that this episode showed Iran’s true colors – in contrast to its diplomatic posture in nuclear negotiations with the West. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Iran is again exposed as the biggest arms exporter in the world to terrorist organizations.