The Times of Israel is reporting that a new computer virus 'more powerful' than the Stuxnet worm that devastated the Iranian nuclear weapons program in 2010 has been unleashed on Iran's "infrastructure and strategic systems."

While the extent of the damage is unknown, the new virus has been described as “more violent, more advanced and more sophisticated" than Stuxnet. That virus, jointly developed by US and Israel, is believed to have set back the Iranian nuclear weapons programs by several months to several years depending on the source.

The report came hours after Israel said its Mossad intelligence agency had thwarted an Iranian murder plot in Denmark, and two days after Iran acknowledged that President Hassan Rouhani’s mobile phone had been bugged. It also follows a string of Israeli intelligence coups against Iran, including the extraction from Tehran in January by the Mossad of the contents of a vast archive documenting Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and the detailing by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN in September of other alleged Iranian nuclear and missile assets inside Iran, in Syria and in Lebanon.

It's interesting that the foiled assassination plot in Denmark came after President Rouhani's phone had been penetrated. Was the Iranian leader stupid enough to talk about the plot over his cellphone, tipping off the Israelis?

Referring to Stuxnet, Wednesday’s TV report noted that “in the past, the US and Israel have been alleged to have worked together on operations.” Trying to establish whether Israel had any role in the latest cyberattack, the TV report said: “We’ve tried to clarify here. They’re refusing to comment.”

The TV report noted that “behind the scenes lately, the Mossad,” under its director Yossi Cohen, has been “fighting a real shadow war.”

Without attributing responsibility to the Mossad, the report mentioned the tapping of Rouhani’s phone, noting that the Iranians “had to switch it for an encrypted model because they understand that someone has been listening to him for days and weeks.”

On Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged intensified efforts to counter enemy “infiltration,” Reuters said.

The "shadow war" with Iran is being fought jointly by the US and Israel. The IDF has bombed Iranian bases in Syria several times over the last year, trying to prevent Tehran from establishing a permanent presence in Syria. In January of this year, Mossad carried out a daring raid on a warehouse in Tehran, making off with thousands of damning documents showing Iran is still trying to build a nuclear weapon. And the reimposition of sanctions by the Trump administration is putting enormous pressure on the Iranian economy, as evidenced by labor unrest across the country.

The coordinated US-Israeli effort against Iran has but one goal; regime change. It won't be an easy task with the fanatically loyal Revolutionary Guards propping up the regime. But at the very least, keeping Iran occupied back home will slow their drive to dominate the Middle East and bring their putrid "revolution" to other countries in the region.