Israel has used proxy channels to pass across information to Iran that the IAF (Israeli Air Force) was not aware that General Mohammad Ali Allah Dadi and five other Iranians were attached to the targeted enemy combat unit. This form of semi-apology is meant to assuage Iran by informing it that IAF would have called off the missile strike if it had known that the targeted convoy was transporting high-ranking Iranian officers. This development shows that Israel is avoiding a military showdown with Iran.
Nonetheless, Israel is still expecting an attack from Iran or Hezbollah. However, according to Israeli intelligence agencies, neither Iran nor Hezbollah seeks to escalate conflict with the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces).
There are indications that the US pressurized Israel to make the semi-apology to Iran. Intelligence assessment indicates that US involvement in the matter is informed by the fact that the Obama Administration does not want to jeopardize its current nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic.
Israeli and Regional Intelligence agencies are uncertain about the most probable Iranian response but there are clear indications that Iran will certainly not accept the official Israeli explanation for the death of Iranian military officers.
Major General Aviv Kochavi, the former chief of AMAN (Israel’s Military Intelligence), was the Officer Commanding IDF’s Northern Command and in extension responsible for the ordering of the strike. Aluf Kochavi is well versed with the volatile geopolitical and military landscape as shaped by Israel, Hezbollah and Iran and most certainly had weighed his decisions vis-à-vis possible repercussions. This implies that the present scenario was deliberated upon and a decision reached that it was still worthwhile for IAF to conduct the attack. All the same, the de-escalation move has seen Israel accepting that its military operation was an intelligence-dependent mistake. The climb down will definitely benefit Tehran while the Israeli leadership will be criticized for such an intelligence blunder.
