Over the past week alone, Iran came out with two major announcements, claiming what it sees as significant gains against Israel, as the two sides battle it out on the intelligence front.
"They were once again humiliated," a state television report said, as it narrated in detail how the intelligence department of Iran's Defense Ministry had thwarted a sabotage plot against the country's controversial missile industry. Iranian authorities said the purported plan involved introducing defective parts into missile manufacturing systems that could have grounded the production line. They linked the attempted sabotage to the Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence agency, and its local agents.
Admiration has been flowing in state-funded papers and media outlets ever since. "The largest military sabotage in 100 years tackled," the headline of one conservative outlet read, while a string of TV shows brought in one spokesperson and expert after another to comment on and celebrate the "triumph."
And it all occurred only within days of another statement by the intelligence apparatus that it had busted Israeli-led "terror" networks nationwide.
