Tehran takes note of Israel’s non-interference in its domestic turmoil

Ruling circles in Tehran have interpreted a remark by Israel’s Mossad director Meir Dagan as signifying Jerusalem’s non-interference in the domestic turmoil besetting the regime over the disputed presidential election, debkafile‘s Iranian sources report. They see Israel lining up with mainstream Arab governments such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have quietly watched Iranian unrest for ten days with hardly a word.
Last week, Dagan surprised Tehran when he remarked in a briefing to the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee that the scale of vote-rigging in Iran was not unusual compared with most democracies. The spy chief went on to say that the protests in Tehran would fade after a few days.
These comments, say our sources, persuaded Iranian officials to change their habit and go easy on “the Zionists” when accusing foreign elements of meddling in their internal affairs. They vented their ire this time on Britain and to a lesser degree on the US.
Regime sources in Tehran also noted that the Mossad director said one thing and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu another. In an interview with the US broadcaster NBC Sunday, June 21, Netanyahu called the Islamic regime one “whose real nature has been unmasked, and it’s been unmasked by incredible acts of courage by Iran’s citizens.” But he saw no reason why the Israeli and Iranian peoples should not live in peace.
According to debkafile‘s sources, Tehran speculated that Netanyahu had adapted his remarks to a US audience which, like Israelis, sympathizes with the protest movement, while Dagan’s remarks were meant for Iran’s ears.