Iran planning massive regional war in Middle East?

Washington Free Beacon:

The Trump administration disclosed that Iran is behind the construction of several underground tunnels leading into Israel that Hezbollah militants and other terror forces have been using to conduct attacks, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon and communicated fears that Tehran is preparing to lead a "massive regional war."

The public identification of Iran isn't likely to surprise international observers, but signals aggressive moves by the Trump administration to tie Iran to the rise of terrorism not just in Israel, but across the Middle East, where Iranian-backed militants continue to strike U.S. interests and allies.

The Obama administration, in contrast to Trump, was careful to avoid singling out Iran as the chief force for terrorism against Israel and U.S. allies in the region in hopes of appeasing the hardline regime as it sought to ink the landmark nuclear pact that Trump abandoned earlier this year.

Senior U.S. officials familiar with Israel's discovery of these new tunnels—a tactic long used by Hezbollah and Hamas to conduct cross-border raids against Israeli civilians and military personnel—say they mark a massive escalation by Iran's terror proxies.

The Israeli military conducted operations to destroy the tunnels earlier this week, shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a one-on-one meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels.

The timing of Israel's military operations signal a deep coordination with the Trump administration, which told the Free Beacon the United States will stand side-by-side with the Jewish state as it works to thwart Iran's terror enterprise.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) said the tunnels show Iran used money from sanctions lifted under the Obama administration for military purposes.

"Senator Cruz has been tracking the Israeli campaign against these attack tunnels closely, and every day brings new disturbing revelations," said a spokesperson for Cruz. "It's now clear that Iran used its windfall from the Obama Iran nuclear deal to arm Hezbollah for an all-out war against Israel, and that the United States must do more to undo the damage of that deal. Sen. Cruz has also been unequivocal that our Israeli allies have an absolute right to defend themselves, especially against threats and violations of their sovereignty like these attack tunnels."
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In just the past several weeks, Iran has test-fired nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missiles—capable of reaching both Israel and Europe—and also continued to harass U.S. naval assets in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane.

Iran has been threatening to block the shipping route, prompting fierce warnings from the Trump administration.

"Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz again," Hook disclosed. "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. will continue to work with its partners" to ensure the route remains open and free of Iranian attacks.

U.S. officials fear these recent moves by Iran are a preview of its preparations for a "massive regional war."
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"When you add what Hamas has been doing in the Gaza Strip, and what Iran itself has been doing from Syria, there's no escaping the conclusion that Iran has been waging a low level war against Israel while preparing for a massive regional war," the source warned.
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This is another example of the failure of Obama's Iran policy and how they exploited the windfall he gave them.  It also should be a red flag to those in Washington who want to ditch the Saudis and go back to playing footsie with the mad bombers of Iran.  Such a move would show a complete lack of strategic judgment in the region.

The Europeans are starting to realize what a strategic blunder the Iran deal was.  They are upset about Iran's launch of a midrange nuclear-capable missile in recent days.

The Iranians have been accused of training with Mexican drug cartels in building tunnels on the US border.  The Israels have a video from a camera they placed in one of the Hezballah tunnels and the man seen in the video has been tied to the drug cartel's tunnel operations.