Retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax on Friday that the Iranian attempt to undermine the Abraham Accords "failed miserably" when it attacked Israel last weekend.
"Part of what they're trying to do, the Iranians, is destroy the Abraham Accords and this military group that came together — that's their goal," Shaffer said on "Newsline," referring to the countries that aided Israel during the attack. "And this failed miserably because, as you saw, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia all showed up to help out, for better or for worse, and Iraq as well a little bit. This is a bad sign for Iran, a good sign for the Israelis and Middle East peace."
Iran launched an unprecedented direct strike on Israel on Saturday, firing hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, in a largely thwarted attack. The vast majority of Iranian munitions were intercepted by a coalition of nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israeli air defenses.
In an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan News on Sunday, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of instigating the conflict in Gaza in an effort to undermine normalizing ties with Jerusalem.
In the latest tit-for-tat exchange of firepower between the two arch nemeses, Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Friday, hitting a military facility deep inside the country, according to multiple reports.
Shaffer said that Israel surprised Iran with the timing of its attack, coming on the ayatollah's birthday and at a different time than had originally been communicated.
"It was a head fake," he said. "The Israelis said, 'We're going to do it after Passover;' they didn't. It was a very, dare I say, Trumpian move to be unpredictable, and I think it's what's necessary.
"They've got to be clear and precise in what they're going to do. And, to that point, the delivery of weapons on target was immensely effective. It sent a message without doing any direct attacks on their [Iran's] nuclear infrastructure, that is to say their personnel facilities or actual nuclear material. So, this was well done."
"The other thing it does is now it creates the conditions for both de-escalation, that is to say this was a smaller strike than the Iranians did, and, most importantly, reestablishing a form of deterrence," he continued. "That is what the Biden administration failed to do, lost the bubble, and I think the Israelis are on the brink of bringing that back."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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