On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Washington and called for “joint military readiness” between the US and Israel against Iran.
A day before the meeting, a US official told Reuters that the two military leaders would discuss potential military drills to prepare for attacks on Iran. Austin told Gantz on Thursday that if diplomacy with Iran fails, the US is ready to “turn to other options.”
With indirect negotiations between the US and Iran to revive the nuclear resuming in Vienna, Israeli officials are pushing hard for the Biden administration to abandon the talks, impose more sanctions, and consider attacking the Islamic Republic.
Since the resumption of talks, the US has accused Iran of not taking the process seriously. But in the meantime, the Biden administration has imposed more sanctions on Iran, which signals that the US is not prepared to return the JCPOA.
Openly discussing attacking Iran with Israeli officials is also not sending the best signal to Iran, and is likely part of the effort to ramp up the pressure. But US sanctions and Israeli covert attacks have only led to Iran making nuclear advancements.
The Israelis frame the need to attack Iran as the only way to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon. But Iran has always pledged it does not want to make a bomb and is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. On Monday, CIA Director William Burns said the US has no evidence Tehran wants to weaponize its nuclear program.
This is mostly about the preservation of non-Arabic control of the Arab nations of Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq by new players: Israel and the US. The other new guy in the game is the non-Arabic player of Iran which must be kept away by us and Israel.
The new players have already lost one match: Afghanistan and are about to lose Iraq too.
As before the new players try to develop Arabic support, notably Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. That is dangerous because these nations will eventually turn on us and Israel when that is needed for their own control policies. When we firmly lose Syria they will pounce.
Egypt appears to be in the waiting room.
This is not about nuclear arsenals. It is about oil as it has always been since the end of WW1.
nobody cares about israel except neocons that will use the issue to sell more guns.
nobody goes to church anymore or even believes the nonsense a whiteguy in a bathrobe will return from grave and save them from sinning.
israel still continues for years trying to ally with china at everymove usa says no, so yes israel will choose chija over usa as they are untrustworthy for thousands of years recorded history
“Joint Military Action”… Sounds like code for “let’s sit down and smoke a joint” and blow this whole war thing off…