Israel Prepares Military Strike to Confront Iran, With or Without the US
The war of words between Israel and Iran is intensifying. The rhetoric comes at a time when the nuclear talks in Vienna to stop Iran’s nuclear program seem stalled.
The war of words between Israel and Iran is intensifying. The rhetoric comes at a time when the nuclear talks in Vienna to stop Iran’s nuclear program seem stalled.
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel this week for discussions likely to be dominated by a perceived threat from Iran amid U.S. concerns that the time Tehran would need to develop a nuclear weapon has become “unacceptably short.”
The United States believes Iran‘s breakout time to producing enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon is now “really short” and alarming, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday.
European diplomats in talks to save the Iran nuclear deal said Friday that “some technical progress” had been made but warned they were “rapidly reaching the end of the road.”
One day after Iran agreed to reinstall surveillance cameras at one of its nuclear facilities, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that the UN’s atomic watchdog will not be able to examine images from the cameras until sanctions are lifted.
At a time of tension over troubled talks about Iran’s nuclear program, a pro-regime newspaper on Wednesday published a map of Israel covered in markers – presumably meant to symbolize missile targets – and a warning that Iran is “more than capable of hitting them [Israelis] from anywhere.”
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that the restrictions faced by his inspectors in Iran threaten to give the world only a “very blurred image” of Tehran’s program as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
Israel has asked the United States to accelerate the delivery of refueling aircraft it had purchased that could be needed to attack Iranian nuclear sites, but was told by the Biden administration the first plane likely will not be delivered until 2024, according to a report Tuesday.
Three European powers said on December 14 that talks with Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are “rapidly reaching the end of the road,” while Tehran accused Western powers of playing a “blame game.”
Iranian “drone armies” are behind a surge in attacks on U.S. positions and allies in Iraq, according to a group of Republican lawmakers who are demanding answers from the Biden administration about how it is working to counter these threats amid ongoing negotiations with Tehran over a revamped nuclear accord.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday called for an “effective and serious” approach to Iran’s ballistic and nuclear program, during a Gulf summit in Riyadh.
Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hit out at the government after a report said Israel consulted with the United States before carrying out attacks earlier this year on an Iranian nuclear facility and a missile base.
Israel consulted with the United States before carrying out covert strikes on an Iranian nuclear facility and a missile base earlier this year, the New York Times reported Saturday, as tensions rise between the two allies over Washington’s desire to make a deal with Tehran.
A top Iranian military official warned on Saturday of a “heavy price for aggressors,” state media said, after a report of US and Israeli plans for possible military drills to prepare for strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites if diplomacy fails.
There were signs Monday that Iran prepared for a space launch amid tense talks over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that officials will discuss shared concerns about Iran with visiting Defense Minister Benny Gantz later on Thursday, but it declined to comment on a Reuters report about discussions on possible Iran-focused military drills.
A significant majority of Jewish Israelis, 58%, would support a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities even without a green light from Washington, according to an Israel Democracy Institute report published Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to visit Israel on Sunday, marking the official’s first such excursion in three years.
The Israel Defense Forces will hold a large-scale exercise over the Mediterranean in the spring with dozens of aircraft simulating a strike against Iran’s nuclear program, according to a report Wednesday.
US and Israeli defense chiefs are expected on Thursday to discuss possible military exercises that would prepare for a worst-case scenario to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities should diplomacy fail, a senior US official said.