Iran emerges victorious in simulated war games at Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv, Dec. 23 (ANI): Due to Obama administration's diplomatic approach to Tehran, Israel, which has been demanding aggressive action against Iran's nuclear facilities, has been left in lurch leaving the Islamic republic emerge victorious in 'secret war games' - a simulated conflict staged by the Tel Aviv University.

'Secret war games', An exercise, staged by Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies last month, showed that even an Israeli commando raid on Iran's heavy water plant at Arak would not draw the US into a military conflict with Iran.

"Our leverage over the Americans, when we could prise them away from the Iranians and Europeans and others, was limited pretty much the only card we had to play was the military action card. And that's a faded card," said Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser who played the role of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in the simulated conflict.

"The Iranians came out feeling better than the Americans as they were simply more determined to stick to their objectives," he added.

Netanyahu has already found his relationship with the White House strained, ignoring US demands for a halt on settlement construction in the West Bank before reluctantly agreeing to a temporary freeze.

Security analysts in Israel and America have warned of the potential high cost to be paid if Israel attacks Iran.

The cost would be not only to Israel, whose cities are within range of Iranian missiles and which would likely be hit by the Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, but also to the United States.

In that scenario, analysts say, Iran would step up support for anti-American militants in the Gulf, as well as for militias fighting US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The war games also showed that while Israel was diplomatically and militarily hobbled, Iran would likely continue enriching uranium. (ANI)