Quick Hit: Shadow War between Israel and Iran not so Shadowy

Over the last several years, scientists associated with Iran’s nuclear program have been killed in a series of attacks.  According to NBC News, the United States believes Israel is behind these killings–part of a shadow war to slow or halt Iran’s nuclear program.

Just last month, the Washington Post reported:

A scientist linked to Iran’s nuclear program was killed in his car by a bomb-wielding assailant on Wednesday [January 11, 2012], a bold rush-hour attack that experts say points to a further escalation in a covert campaign targeting the country’s atomic officials and institutions. The precision hit in a northern Tehran neighborhood killed the 32-year-old chemical engineer employed at Iran’s main uranium-enrichment facility and brought to four the number of Iranian scientists killed by bombs in the past two years.

Today, it looks as if Iran has retaliated with attacks in India and in the Republic of Georgia.

In India, the wife of an Israeli diplomat escaped injury when the car she was riding in to pick up her children from school was bombed by an assailant on motorcycle.  Another attack was thwarted in the Republic of Georgia at about the same time, according to ABC News and the Washington Post.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran.  As Simon Denyer and Joel Greenberg reported for the Washington Post:

Ticking off a list of recent attempts around the globe to attack Israelis and Jews, all of which he said were successfully thwarted, Netanyahu called Iran “the greatest exporter of terror in the world.”

“In all these cases,” Netanyahu said, “the elements behind the attacks were Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah.”

All of this is set against the backdrop of rising international concern of Iran’s nuclear program, with many openly discussing the possibility of an Israeli strike against Iran this spring.