JNS Quotes JINSA Distinguished Fellows IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror & IDF Col. (ret.) Itai Shapira during JINSA Conference Call

With Iran struggling under weight of coronavirus, will it act out against Israel and America?

Whether or not the regime will make any moves against Western forces in the region or push its proxies to open a front against Israel remains to be seen, according to two Mideast analysts.

By Israel Kasnett

With the chaos of the coronavirus (COVID-19), will Iran take advantage of Israel’s perceived weakened state to attack through proxies? Iran may perceive Israel’s military as being unable to call up masses of reserves or send large groups of civilians into close quarters in rocket shelters due to coronavirus restrictions. Will Iran attack?

This was one of the questions posed in a conference call hosted by the Jewish Institute of National Security for America (JINSA) on the security implications of the coronavirus for Iran and the Middle East. The call featured JINSA Fellow Yaakov Amdiror, Israel’s former Israeli National Security Adviser, and also JINSA Fellow Itai Shapira, former deputy head of the Research and Analysis Division (RAD) in the Israel Defense Forces.

According to Amidror, the extent of the disease in Iran is not really known. “It is clear the Iranians are not telling the truth and are hiding the real situation,” he said. “We know that the numbers are growing and are much greater than those announced by the authorities. As far as can be judged from the outside, without having the real information, everything is out of control.”

He said Iran made a huge mistake in the beginning, allowing flights between Iran, China and Lebanon. “Iran is the center of spreading the virus around the Middle East because people are flying between Beirut and Tehran,” he said.

Originally published in JNS