Israel’s unprecedented success in infiltrating Iranian intelligence has opened up a “Pandora’s box” of global security threats, Chinese observers have warned, while urging China to tighten all national security measures against any vulnerabilities.
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According to Chinese military analyst and former air force member Fu Qianshao, one striking feature of the Middle East conflict is the critical role played by Israeli intelligence agents embedded in Iran.
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency reportedly used spies and agents to smuggle armed drones and precision weapons into Iran in a prolonged operation, effectively creating a covert drone base within Iranian territory.
When Israel launched its overnight strikes on June 13, these prepositioned assets helped to swiftly disable much of Iran’s air defences and missile system. By the time Iran put together a response hours later, its ability to retaliate had been greatly diminished.
The Israeli air strikes targeted key nuclear sites in Iran and killed at least four senior Iranian military commanders and six nuclear scientists.
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Fu said the tactic of having spies disable Iran’s radars and ground-to-air missile systems, allowing Israeli fighter jets to enter Iranian airspace almost unchallenged, was “a tactic belonging to a new form of warfare, and in many ways has opened a Pandora’s box”.