Rules of Deception

EPILOGUE

The planes of Israel’s 69 Squadron attacked at dawn. They came in low over the water beneath Iranian radar. The newly installed antiaircraft systems had only seconds to see them. By the time the first missiles were launched, it was too late. The bombs struck their target with deadly accuracy. In minutes, sixteen conventionally armed bunker busters had completed their job. The missile facility at Karshun on the Persian Gulf had been wiped from the map. Deep inside a fortified weapons magazine ten meters below ground, the four Kh-55 cruise missiles, each armed with a ten-kiloton nuclear warhead, were obliterated.

Operation Nightingale was a success.

Inside the prime minister’s office, the relief was palpable, if temporary. The state of Israel no longer had to worry about being annihilated without warning. The threat to its existence had been quelled, its borders secured. For the moment.

In the wake of the attack, evidence about the true nature of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was made public. World leaders roundly condemned the Islamic Republic and called for an immediate cessation of its nuclear enrichment program. The United States went a step further and issued an ultimatum calling on Teheran to turn over all of its weapons-grade uranium within seventy-two hours or else risk a military reprisal. The government in Teheran waffled, but finally acceded to the demands rather than risk a repeated embarrassment.

Only Zvi Hirsch knew the identity of the person who had provided his country the detailed information about Iran’s entire nuclear program and caused the raid to be diverted from Chalus to Karshun. And he wasn’t telling.

As he crossed the street from the prime minister’s residence, he tossed the small flash drive in his hand.

It was amazing what these computer wizards could do.