Image Credentials: Image Title: Shielding the Superpower: How Israel Thwarted Iranian ICBM Threats to the U.S. Source: (sora.openai) Date: Feb 2026. Attribution: This image was created using AI-generated imagery (sora.openai) and does not depict a real-world scene.
By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
JERUSALEM — Explosive new details have emerged regarding a series of classified operations in which Israel successfully neutralized Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) threats directed at the United States. According to a re-released report from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Jewish state has acted as a silent guardian for its senior ally on multiple occasions dating back to 2011.
The report suggests that while the public’s focus was often on Iran’s regional medium-range missiles, the Mossad and Israeli Special Forces were engaged in a high-stakes “shadow war” to prevent Tehran from achieving the reach necessary to strike the American mainland.
The 2011 Bidgenneh Blast
The timeline of these interventions began in earnest in November 2011. A massive explosion at a military base in Bidgenneh, near Tehran, killed Major General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the “father” of Iran’s missile program, and 16 other members of the Revolutionary Guard.
While Iran initially labeled the blast an accident, Western intelligence sources now confirm it was an Israeli operation designed to sabotage the development of a long-range solid-fuel engine. Analysts note that this single event “reset the clock” on Iran’s ICBM ambitions by at least half a decade, directly removing a nascent threat to U.S. East Coast cities.
Strategic Coercion and “War Scares”
The MEMRI analysis highlights the tense 2011–2012 period when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak created a deliberate “war scare.” By signaling that Israel was on the verge of a unilateral strike, they successfully pressured the Obama administration to escalate economic sanctions and move U.S. military assets into the Persian Gulf.
“Israel effectively forced the United States to realign with Israeli strategic constraints,” the report notes. This “coercive bargaining” ensured that the U.S. remained tethered to the defense of the region, even as Washington sought a “pivot to Asia.”
A Decades-Long Defense
The report catalogs several other instances of “kinetic interference” throughout the 2010s and early 2020s:
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Cyber Sabotage: Stuxnet-style iterations targeted command-and-control servers used for long-range telemetry.
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Supply Chain Interdiction: The “disappearance” of high-grade carbon fiber and specialized gyroscopes destined for Iranian labs.
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Targeted Neutralization: The 2020 assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which disrupted the integration of nuclear warheads with long-range delivery systems.
The Modern Context
The re-release of this data comes as the Trump administration intensifies its own campaign against Iran’s “shadow fleet” and ballistic networks. Today, with the U.S. providing intelligence and Israel providing “boots on the ground” and technical sabotage, the partnership has evolved into a seamless defensive shield.
A senior Israeli defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated: “The security of Tel Aviv and the security of New York are two sides of the same coin. If the head of the snake is in Tehran, we do not wait for it to reach the Atlantic before we strike.”
As Iran continues to test the limits of its “Sudarshan Chakra” and “Iron Dome” counterparts, these historical revelations underscore a fundamental truth of the alliance: for over fifteen years, Israeli intelligence has frequently been the only thing standing between Iranian engineers and a viable flight path to the United States.