On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz threatened Iran and said Israel must take action against the Islamic Republic “right now” over last week’s drone attack on an Israeli-operated ship near Oman. Israel, the US, and the UK have blamed Tehran, but Iran denies the accusation, calling the allegations “baseless.”
“Iran’s aggression in the region generally and on the maritime front, in particular, is intensifying,” Gantz during a plenary session of Israel’s Knesset. “This is the exact reason that we must act right now against Iran.”
He said that when Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi comes into office Iran, will be “more dangerous to the world than it has been so far.” Raisi will replace Hassan Rouhani as president this week. “We will act to remove any such threat,” Gantz said.
While it was more toned down, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also threatened action against Iran. “We are working with our partners to consider our next steps and consulting with governments inside the region and beyond on an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming,” Blinken said on Sunday.
Neither the US nor Israel have offered any evidence to back up the accusation against Iran. “If they have any evidence to support their baseless claims they should provide them,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in response to the US and UK backing up Israel’s narrative. He also said Iran would “decisively respond to any possible adventurism.”
The attack on the Japanese-owned tanker Mercer Street, which is managed by a company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, killed two crew members; a Romanian and a British national. Both Romania and the UK have summoned Iranian ambassadors over the attack.
Attacks on commercial shipping are common in the region, and Israel has been behind several attacks on Iranian ships. In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had attacked at least a dozen ships that were either Iranian or carrying Iranian fuel since 2019.
Israel has also carried out covert attacks inside Iran over the past year, including the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakrizadeh. Israel doesn’t officially take credit for these attacks, but it’s no secret who was behind them, and Israeli intelligence officials have all but admitted it in comments to the press.
No more War! Peace!
Blinken and Gantz: calm down your vitriolic rhetoric.
Be very careful and responsible what you accuse Iran of in your statements.
“He that is without sin among you – let him cast a stone at her.”
Words of wisdom you should consider very carefully!
Even more than the USA, Israel needs a continuous apparent existential threat; it forms the essence of their national coherence.
“They are out to get us” is the 11th commandment, Without it the nation would succumb to in-fighting instead of the required “out fighting”.
They also said that Hitler was funny little man with a moustache-the threat is very real.
There is no comparison. None. Zilch. But keep up with your willful stupidity. I would have said “ignorance” but stupidity is more appropriate unless you’ve been living under a rock.
The summer heat has baked your shaven pate.Iran is dead set on destroying Israel-they outnumber Israel 10 to 1. POOPOO Iran all you want,they are like Hitler, only more cautious and clever.
I realize you are a young student at university in Israel, and have a job to do to make extra money for your studies, but you must to some reading outside of the box.
You hit the Nail smack bang on its head !!
you are deluded.
you must be exhausted,. it take a herculean effort to ignore that fact that israel attacks all of it’s neighbors and then PRETENDS TO BE THE VICTIM.. OR are you one of the army of internet trolls that ISRAEL PAYS to post what a victim israel is? yup gotta be a paid troll,.
When you can’t win an argument, you see trolls-hirsuite creatures that live under bridges.
what argument? you’re a paid shill regurgitating canned replies.. this does not an argument make!
You can’t handle dissenting opinions-very jejune of you.Israel was attacked in 1948 and 1973,blockaded in 1967,and subjected to constant bandit terrorist attacks-who attacked who?
ohhh it’s your “canned” OPINION as opposed to independently verifiable facts,.. got it..
Few Americans realize that we in US intelligence had long since concluded that Israel had been grossly exaggerating the Arab “threat” in early 1967. Fifteen years later, in 1982, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin publicly confessed:
“In June 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that [Egyptian President] Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.”
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2017/06/05/who-started-the-six-day-war-of-june-1967/
So you double down on your stupidity. Israel outnumbers Iran in nukes 200 to zero. And they have promised to shoot them all off if they are on the verge of defeat(samson option). Now who is the real Hitler?
The victors write the descriptions and the history. If Germany had won the war, “THEY” would have said Churchill was a fat-assed warmonger/war criminal.
Never forget Oct 1969 when Nixon prepared the B-52s with Nuclear bombs ready to bomb Vietnam to rubble….only stopping because of the stern warnings from the Russians
Is the US now getting ready to bomb IRAN ??
Never forget that Nixon wasn’t president in 1959.
I would assume the sophisticated readers here knew he meant 1969 after seeing him reference Nixon and Vietnam.
Simple typo.
I think this the operation he was alluding to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Giant_Lance
Yes, typo, sorry !!
“Kissinger the national security advisor, was advised by Nixon at this time about Nixon’s willingness to use nuclear weapons in order to end the war” did not mean that Nixon intended to turn Vietnam into rubble with nukes, Theo.
Israel gets a little taste of their own medicine inflicted on their neighbors and now they want us to fight their war (again).
Not the first time Iran is blamed for an attack on a Japanese ship under crazy scenarios. Remember the attack on a Japanese ship while the Japanese Prime Minister was visiting Iran? “The Mercer Street, a Japanese-owned Liberian-flagged tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime that was attacked off Oman coast.” They are crying that there is “no justification” as if that is enough for evidence against Iran. The MSM runs another crazy story to vilify another country targeted for regime change. Do we have any intelligence left in our minds to insult?
I do not pretend to know much about what is going on there, but the idea that Iran, starved for revenue, would attack the very Japanese tanker it had just pumped a load of oil onto seemed patently absurd the moment it was reported.
Are you kidding? I did not see that reported anywhere. Well, that makes it even more ridiculous. It’s interesting that the MSM concealed the fact that the ship was full of Iranian oil!
Israel needs continuous state of militancy, being under threat, perpetual siege mentality. But the point of this act is to make US act “now”. What a sad, paranoid couple, There is no shortage of candidates for such an attack. Israel is not exactly popular. Even billionaire owner operator may have an interest in insurance schema, and other non-political motive can be behind. Without investigation, nothing can be ruled out.
It is harder to imagine the reason for US saber rattling. A bit more caution would be wiser. Reaction by UK and Romania clearly shows their status as vassals.
Prove who initiated the attack?
The working hypothesis towards Israel is they are always lying. Until proven otherwise, one should assume Israel is lying and proceed accordingly. Israel even admits this with the Mossad motto, “By Way of Deception, Thou Shalt Do War. ”
Now, assuming Israel is lying, as one should, why would Israel falsely accuse Iran? If Israel wanted to attack Iran unilaterally, then such lies are unnecessary as Israel has never needed justification for bombing weaker neighbors.
One must assume Israel is doing this to fool someone other than the United States. The US has also never really needed any justification to attack an enemy and will simply manufacture an event as a casus belli. The Gulf of Tonkin lie is an example. Also, the US would simply attack Iran if directly ordered by Israel as in the Soleimani assassination.
I wonder who Israel is trying to fool? Israel now knows the US alone cannot defeat Iran because Iran effortlessly destroyed parts of US military bases in Iraq and the US did NOTHING in retaliation.
What other countries is Israel trying to drag into war?
Marxists are the biggest liars-they promise peace and a better world and deliver gulags, mass murder,oppression, robbery, and poverty. E.G. the USSR,China, and Nicaragua.Humans are of no value to them-Marxism even makes our system look good.
Funny, that is a perfect description of the US. Here, I will fix it for you.
̶M̶a̶r̶x̶i̶s̶t̶s̶ Americans are the biggest liars-they promise peace and a better world and deliver gulags, mass murder,oppression, robbery, and poverty.
Now your comment makes perfect sense and can be proven 100% true.
30,000,000 dead thanks to Stalin, how many millions dead thanks to Mao?
He(Gantz)said that when Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi comes into office Iran, will be “more dangerous to the world than it has been so far.”
How do they do it? No nukes, no air force to speak of, a navy that the majority of is made up of patrol boats and an economy that has been devastated by the “maximum pressure campaign”. Add on the fact that the US has basically surrounded them with military assets and yet we are supposed to believe that Iran poses some threat to the entire world. And never mind that the US dropping out of the JCPOA is one of the reasons a hardliner is coming to power. So the exaggerations continue and we are once again fed with the bullsh*t that a country that can barely project power outside of its own borders is somehow the scourge of the world and must be stopped. Unbelievable.
Worse yet, is the plight of the Palestinians. They have zilch; no army, no navy, no air force, no guided missiles, no country giving them money and weapons, no real defense against their homes being bulldozed, lands expropriated, no control over potable water, electricity, no free travel.
and how is that relative to Iran-not at all.
damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
The current multi-party government of Israel can collapse any moment on domestic issues hence that threat must be covered up with martial talk. Netanyahu is standing on the sideline grinning from ear to ear.
If Iran is a threat to Israel, let Israel deal with it. If they don’t deal with such a grave ‘existential threat’ as Iran, what does that say about the Israeli government and its duty to protect the people and state? If they do take action and fail to ‘destroy’ Iran, it only serves as evidence they’re not as tough as they think they are. I can say one thing, though- if Israel makes a move on Iran, the Israelis will all but guarantee Iran will start serious work on a nuclear weapons program. Iran is making friends across the waters- powerful friends- and, in the words of mob bosses the world over, it would be a shame to see Israel have an accident.
Israel is gun shy with Iran for a few reasons.
1. Israel was humiliatingly routed in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Lebanon is a trial size Iran so Israel knows Iran would destroy Israel in days if provoked.
2. More recently, the invasion of tiny Gaza was a debacle and Israel was forced to pretend they never meant to send in ground forces. Haha.
3. Iran has extremely powerful allies. Iran could crush Israel with no help, but Russia and China both could easily intervene if the US steps in to help Israel. Which it would, of course. That could lead to US, China, Russia and Iran all fighting on Israeli territory. That could hurt Israel’s tourism industry! Haha.
“Iran could crush Israel”-yes 100,00 Hezboalah rockets could cause immense destruction in Israel, fuel air explosives could cause immense destruction in Lebanon. and Jericho missiles could nuke Iran with Co-60, and make it unlivable for a near eternity.Seems like a loose-loose situation.Your joy is typical of the “antiwar”inhabitants.
“and Jericho missiles could nuke Iran with Co-60, and make it unlivable for a near eternity”
And yet you say that Iran’s 10 to 1 advantage, population wise, makes them as dangerous as Hitler. You really should be more consistent with your babble.
Don’t think for a minute the “DC Club” isn’t involved. I gave “Shot gun” Joe 12 months. He’s doing it in 6??? The “War Machine” grinds on…..
Israel has opened Pandora’s box, and hiding under the US’s skirt will not protect Israeli-owned ships if the attacks in Syria continue.
The Apartheid state has been put on notice that its endless and lethal attacks in Syria will have consequences elsewhere.
The Arab countries are apartheid states-they evicted all their Jewish peoples.
Do you know the meaning of apartheid?
Tonkin Gulf?
Slam Dunk – on Saddam’s nukes?
ISRAEL SABOTAGING NEGOTIATIONS AGAIN AND BLAMING IRAN AGAIN..
Iran ‘Won’t Be Alone’ If the U.S. and Israel Attacks, Russian Official Says https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/06/26/iran-wont-be-alone-if-us-attacks-russian-official-says-a66169