Israeli FM Says Israel Will Act Against Iran if the World Doesn’t

Yair Lapid said if Iran acquires nuclear weapons it will start an arms race, ignoring the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday said Israel “reserves the right” to act against Iran to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons if the rest of the world doesn’t take action.

“The world needs to stop Iran from getting a nuclear capability, no matter the price. If the world doesn’t do it, Israel reserves the right to act,” Lapid said in Moscow while meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Israel is constantly claiming that Iran is racing to develop a nuclear bomb when that is not the case. Iran’s current nuclear activity includes enriching uranium at 60 percent, the highest level Iran has ever attempted. But this is still well below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade uranium, and it is only being done in response to Israeli covert attacks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Like other Israeli officials, Lapid pretends Israel doesn’t have nuclear weapons and claimed if Iran obtains a nuclear bomb, it would “lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”

Current estimates put Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal somewhere between 90 and 300 warheads. In a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Biden reportedly carried on the US tradition of agreeing not to push Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Iran has signed and abides by.

Lapid and Lavrov discussed the situation in Syria, a country Israel regularly bombs. Israel frames its airstrikes in Syria as part of its war against Iran, but they frequently kill Syrian troops and members of Iraq’s Shia militias. Because Damascus is an ally of Moscow, Russia is reportedly working to curtail Israeli airstrikes in Syria.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.