Middle East & Africa | Diplomacy by other means

Israel again rattles its sabre at Iran

A military response is readied as hope for a nuclear deal fades

|OVDA AND WASHINGTON, DC

TWO BY TWO they roared into the sky over the Israeli desert—American F-16s, British Typhoons, French Rafales and more—to confront an unseen enemy called “Dragonland”. The foes of war games are fictitious; Israeli officers were at pains to say the exercise was “generic”.Yet Dragonland’s force, with its drones and air-defence missiles, seemed a lot like Iran’s. Such exercises “are needed to face Iran”, noted one general.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Diplomacy by other means”

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