Yesterday I blogged about another variant of the Stuxnet computer worm that infiltrated Iranian control computers and damaged centrifuges being used to enrich uranium. My blog post today is going to deal with Iranian speculation that Saudi Arabia and Israel are collaborating on a new cyber attack aimed at further disrupting the Iranian nuclear program.
An Iranian Fars news agency report claims that an anonymous source in Saudi Arabia told Fars that “Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency Tamir Bardo sent their representatives to a meeting in Vienna on November 24 to increase the two sides' cooperation in intelligence and sabotage operations against Iran’s nuclear program.” The anonymous Saudi source said that one of the methods that was discussed in the meeting was the creation of computer malware that was much worse than the original Stuxnet discovered in Iranian computer systems in 2010. The new malware was being developed to "“to spy on and destroy the software structure of Iran’s nuclear program.”
Saudi Arabia and Israel usually appear to be hostile to each other. The clandestine meeting in Vienna was considered a better venue to explore cooperation than any public statements or meetings between the two antagonists. This collaboration seems to be based on the idea that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." The Arab Wahabist Islamic sect in Saudi Arabia is a staunch enemy of the Persian Shiites in Iran. Iran has been supporting terrorists that launch attacks on Israel. Israel is very concerned that the Iranian nuclear program is aimed at the creation of nuclear weapons which might target Israel someday. This clandestine cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel could be seen as a way to reign the Iranian nuclear program without invading or bombing Iran.
The recent temporary agreement between Iran and the permanent members of the U.N. security council which includes the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany on Iran's nuclear program was harshly criticized by both the Saudis and the Israelis. They say that the agreement will give Iran additional time and resources to develop nuclear weapons. Back in November, the Sunday Times reported the Saudi officials and the Israeli were discussing taking action against Iran if the deal that was being negotiated with the U.N. did not effective stop the Iran progress toward nuclear weapons.
While this collaboration on a cyber attack on Iran is still in the realm of speculation, I previously mentioned reports that the Saudis were prepared to allow Israeli military aircraft to cross Saudi air space in order to destroy Iranian nuclear installations. It would make sense that the Saudis would prefer not to anger their Arab neighbors by openly cooperating with Israel. And, Israel would prefer not to have to openly bomb Iran if it could be avoided. As they say, politics makes strange bedfellows.
