Drone war takes flight, raising tensions across Mideast
From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighbourhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran.
Since the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year, there has been an increasing tempo of attacks and alleged threats, notably this weekend, from unmanned aircraft flown by Tehran’s and Washington’s allies in the region.
The appeal of the aircraft — they risk no pilots and can be small enough to evade air-defence systems — fuelled their rapid use. As these strikes become more frequent, the risk of unwanted escalation becomes greater.
The US military nearly launched airstrikes against Iran after a US military surveillance drone was shot down in June. Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets attack targets in Syria on an almost weekly basis, including at the weekend. Israel’s reason for the latest bombing: To thwart what it called a planned Iranian drone strike.
Israeli aircraft then buzzed over Beirut yesterday after allegedly losing two drones hours earlier, raising the risk of a wider conflict between it and the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah. Another drone strike hit an Iran-backed paramilitary force in Iraq yesterday, killing one commander and wounding another, members of the group said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.
Tensions have been rising since the US withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in May last year. Under the deal, Tehran limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for sanctions relief. In response to Washington’s withdrawal, Iran initially sought diplomatic support from European partners still in the accord, but ever-increasing American sanctions choked off its sale of crude oil in the international market.
This May, the US sent nuclearcapable B-52 bombers, fighter jets, an aircraft carrier and additional troops to the region over what it described as threats from Iran. Mysterious explosions struck oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel, meanwhile, acknowledged striking Syria on Sunday, saying it prevented an effort by Iran to position so-called killer drones ahead of an attack on Israel.
Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the Israeli strikes hit a Hizbollah rest house and killed two of the group’s members. He said that going forward, any Israeli drones that enter Lebanon would be shot down.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking reelection in September, paraphrased a Talmudic passage on self-defence after the attack: “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first.”
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said it is easier to destroy the drones, which are agile and hard to detect once airborne, while they are still on the ground.
Iran denied Israel’s strikes in Syria did any damage to its forces.
“It is a lie,” Guard General Mohsen Rezaei said, according to Iran’s semiofficial ILNA news agency. However, Rezaei added that the “defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer”, without elaborating.
Rezaei’s response shows the escalatory danger of drone strikes. Overnight in Lebanon, one alleged Israeli drone crashed in Beirut while another exploded, authorities there said, calling it an Israeli act of aggression and violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
In his speech, Nasrallah said one of the drones had been flying low among buildings.
Israel did not acknowledge the incident.
Hizbollah was quick to say that it did not fire on any of the drones, underscoring the group’s keenness to avoid further escalation with its southern neighbour.