Iran has dismissed the long-standing intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guard, considered one of the country's most powerful figures, as concerns mount over Israel's covert war on Iran's defense systems and its nuclear program.
The removal of the intelligence chief, Hossein Taeb, after 13 years in the post was confirmed in a statement by the Guard that did not explain why he had been dismissed. But analysts agreed that his failure to stop Israel from breaching Iran's security network was at the heart of it.
"He had failed to stop Israel's infiltration and wasn't very successful in retaliation operations outside the borders," said Seyed Peyman Taheri, an analyst close to Iran's government. "His removal is to bring in new blood and get both of these things under control."
Israel and Iran have been ensnared for years in a shadow war -- a series of covert operations spanning land, sea, air and cyberspace. But recently, Israel has escalated its attacks and broadened out the targets beyond people involved in the nuclear program. It has also launched a number of drone strikes deep inside Iran.
Israel's prime minister, Naftali Bennett, admitted to covert Israeli operations against the Revolutionary Guard in an exit interview with The New York Times on Monday, saying that when Iranians "hit us through proxies or directly, they will pay a price." He outlined his so-called "Octopus doctrine" of striking Iran at its head rather than its tentacles.
"It turns out these guys are more vulnerable than they seem," he said. "The Iranian regime is rotten, corrupt -- and incompetent."
Taeb, who is a Shiite cleric, was replaced by Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, a senior Guard member who has been the head of the Revolutionary Guard Protection of Information unit, which oversees all of the force's operations.
Former President Donald Trump designated the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist group in 2019 and imposed sanctions on it. It was the first time the U.S. government had blacklisted a part of a country's military as a terrorist organization.
The decision has since stalled negotiations with Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has said it will not return to the table until the designation is eliminated, but the Biden administration has refused.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Meanwhile, a court in Iran on Thursday ordered the United States government to pay over $4 billion to the families of Iranian nuclear scientists who have been killed in targeted attacks in recent years, state-run media reported.
The largely symbolic ruling underscores the escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, with negotiations to restore the tattered atomic accord at a standstill.
Although Tehran has blamed Israel in the past for slayings targeting Iranian nuclear scientists since a decade ago, Iran did not directly accuse Israel in its announcement. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-West monarchy and brought Islamists to power.
The court mentioned Israel only in saying the U.S. supported the "Zionist regime" in its "organized crime" against the victims.
Still, the court branch, which is dedicated to the review of Iranian complaints against the U.S., summoned 37 former American officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
Information for this article was contributed by Cora Engelbrecht and Farnaz Fassihi of The New York Times and Nasser Karimi of The Associated Press.