With perfect timing, worthy of a virtuoso scriptwriter, Iran announced Jan. 4 that it had resumed enrichment of bomb-grade uranium to a 20% purity level in yet another gross breach of its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. The move was carried out on the direct order of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after Iran announced its intention to do so on Jan. 1.
No one in Western intelligence, certainly not Israel, was overly surprised. “The Iranians are analyzing the timetable with great precision,” an Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “They have probably concluded that two weeks before [US President Donald] Trump leaves office, they have acquired immunity against a surprise American attack.”