The US and Israeli air forces will simulate attacking Iran during drills over the Mediterranean Sea and Israel this week, The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday.
The report said that the drills will be held from Tuesday to Thursday and will involve both US and Israeli refueling planes and fighter jets. The planned exercises haven’t been confirmed by the US, but the report comes after the head of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) visited Washington for days of talks with US officials.
Fox News reported last week that while in the US, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi discussed holding joint drills simulating attacks on Iran with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. Upon his return from Washington, Kohavi said that the US and Israel agreed to “significantly expand” joint military activity in the Middle East.
Back in May, Israel simulated large-scale attacks on Iran over the Mediterranean, but the US denied reports that said its warplanes participated. But tensions between the US and Iran are much higher now as nuclear deal talks have been stalled for months, the US continues to increase sanctions on Iran, and has expressed strong support for protesters inside the country.
The idea of the drills is that they would simulate bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. The US acknowledged in its recently released Nuclear Posture Review that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, but that hasn’t stopped the hype and threats from US and Israeli officials.
