A Syrian Rocket That Landed in the Negev Should Remind the U.S. of the Dangers Posed by Iran https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2021/04/a-syrian-rocket-that-landed-in-the-negev-should-remind-the-u-s-of-the-dangers-posed-by-iran/

April 23, 2021 | Bobby Ghosh
About the author:

Early yesterday morning, Bashar al-Assad’s forces launched a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli jet, apparently as it returned from striking Iranian military installations in Syria. While the missile failed to hit its target, Israeli defenses missed theirs, and it landed harmlessly in the northern Negev, setting off air-raid sirens near the nuclear reactor in Dimona. The IDF retaliated by striking Syrian anti-aircraft batteries. To Bobby Ghosh, the incident should be a wake-up call to the Biden administration:

Reports from Vienna, where the world powers are negotiating with Iran to return to the terms agreed to in their 2015 nuclear deal, suggest the Biden administration is softening its position. Whereas American officials initially made the easing of U.S. sanctions conditional on Tehran’s compliance with the [original agreement], they are now signaling a willingness to discuss the relaxation of some restrictions in order to facilitate more talks.

Apparently lost in the shuffle of diplomacy is another Biden precondition: that Iran agree to follow-on negotiations over its other malign activities, including its support of terrorist groups and sectarian militias across the Middle East, its support for the Syrian regime of . . . Bashar al-Assad, and its missile program. Tehran has repeatedly rejected this request.

[T]he missile stockpiles—and reportedly, research and manufacturing facilities—that the Islamic Republic and its proxies are building in Syria are a growing menace that Israel can’t ignore. The greatest threat comes not from stray rockets fired off by Assad’s forces but from precision-guided Iranian missiles assembled in Syria and supplied to Tehran’s catspaws in the country or in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon.

Preventing such an outcome ought to be a high priority for the Biden administration and the other world powers represented at the talks in Vienna; . . . a deal limited to its nuclear program will not greatly limit the danger Iran represents.

Read more on Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-22/a-false-alarm-near-israel-s-dimona-reactor-is-a-warning-for-biden-and-the-jcpoa