Jerusalem will act alone if it has to – that’s the message

The Natanz incident was the second apparent attack on Iranian interests since indirect talks on a nuclear deal began last week. Analysts suggest while the timing is not coincidental, the operations were less about derailing talks and more about Israel showing it is willing to act independently to advance its interests.

On Tuesday, limpet mines reportedly damaged the Iranianflagged ship Saviz, an ostensibly civilian vessel anchored in the Red Sea off Djibouti, but believed to be used by the Iranian Republican Guard.

While Israel does not often confirm its covert attacks, US officials told The New York Times that Israel had forewarned Washington.

“These incidents were timed and tied to nuclear deal talks and Iran’s nuclear day events but that’s just tradecraft from the Israelis,” said Joel Gulhane, a Middle East Africa analyst.

Such actions would “probably not” scupper Us-iran talks but did show that Israel was willing to act unilaterally, he said. “Israel is demonstrating what it can do to Iran’s nuclear programme if it needs to.”

Israel maintains a deal would enable a nuclear-armed Iran within 15 years. Amir Avivi, who founded a pressure group to advocate for Israel’s security, said: “We truly believe it’s an existential threat. The Iranians want to annihilate us, and we take this very seriously.”

Israel fears that Joe Biden’s administration will not be as amenable as Mr Trump’s was.

“It seems like they’re anxious just to go back to this former agreement and quickly lift sanctions. This is very troubling,” Mr Avivi said. “The administration has to understand, if they push us to the wall, we won’t stay silent, we’ll do what’s right for Israel.”