However in a critical Twitter thread, Israel's Lior Haiat said he is "an extremist figure, committed to Iran's rapidly advancing military nuclear program".

 

Iran and Israel have been in a long-running "shadow war", which has resulted in both countries taking part in tit-for-tat actions, but so far avoiding all-out conflict. Recently, however, the hostilities between the two have escalated again.

 

The situation is complex, but one big source of tension is Iran's nuclear activities.

 

Iran blames Israel for the murder of its top nuclear scientist last year and an attack on one of its uranium enrichment plants in April.

 

Meanwhile, Israel does not believe that Iran's nuclear programme is purely peaceful, and is convinced it is working towards building a nuclear weapon.

 

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which saw harsh penalties lifted on Iran as long as it stopped some nuclear work, collapsed when former US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, and re-imposed the crippling economic sanctions. The Biden administration is now trying to work out a way to re-enter the deal.

 

In response to the sanctions being tightened, Iran stepped up its nuclear activities, and is currently enriching uranium at its highest levels ever - although still short of what is needed to make nuclear-grade weapons.