Iranian exercise may be cover for sneak attack, Israel tells US

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is carrying out a massive missile exercise, which Israel warns could be cover for an impending surprise attack.

By World Israel News Staff

A flurry of air activity over Iran has raised suspicions that Tehran may be preparing for a sneak attack in the near future, according to US and Israeli sources.

Over the past few days, Western intelligence has detected unusual air activity in Iranian airspace involving drones and missiles, in what appears to be a large-scale missile exercise.

According to a report published by Axios Sunday night, Israel’s security establishment is increasingly concerned that the exercise, coming on the heels of similar recent activities in Iranian airspace, could be part of a planned surprise attack on Israel.

While Israeli sources cited by the report said the assessment is still that an attack is not expected, following the October 7, 2023, invasion the IDF is now treating all possible threats with heightened scrutiny.

“The chances for an Iranian attack are less than 50%, but nobody is willing to take the risk and just say it is only an exercise,” one Israeli official said.

Israeli security officials are concerned the exercises could be practice for a new conflict between the two countries and may serve as cover for a sneak attack, with Israel and its allies being led to ignore unusual future activity in Iran following the repeated exercises.

Israel has brought up its concerns with the US, though the American inteligence establishment has said it does not believe an Iranian attack to be imminent.

Six weeks ago, Israeli intelligence officials highlighted a similar Iranian exercise, expressing concerns that it could be part of a prelude to a surprise attack.

This time, however, Israel’s top brass spoke with the head of the US central command to discuss the Iranian exercises, the report said.

On Saturday, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly telephoned Adm. Brad Cooper to convey Israel’s growing concerns, noting that the latest Iranian exercises could be used as cover for a sneak attack. Zamir reportedly suggested that the US and Israel coordinate defensive preparations.

A day later, Cooper visited the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, meeting with Zamir and other senior IDF officials.

The meeting comes just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Florida for talks with President Donald Trump, amid reports Netanyahu will present plans for a new series of airstrikes on Iran.