US Ambassador Says Israel Can Do ‘Whatever They Need’ Against Iran

The comments came a few weeks after an Israeli drone attack on a facility in the Iranian city of Isfahan

Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, said Sunday that Israel could do “whatever they need” against Iran and said the US has no plans to pursue a revival of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

“As President Biden has said, we will not stand by and watch Iran get a nuclear weapon, number one. Number two, he said, all options are on the table. Number three, Israel can and should do whatever they need to deal with, and we’ve got their back,” Nides said, according to The Times of Israel.

The US threats against Iran over its nuclear program continue even though the Pentagon acknowledged in its recently issued Nuclear Posture Review that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. Nides added that the “cooperation between Israel and the US vis-a-vis Iran is lockstep. Every day.”

His comments came a few weeks after Israel launched a drone attack against a military facility inside the Iranian city of Isfahan. While Israel hasn’t officially taken credit for the attack, it has a history of launching similar operations inside Iran, and US officials told the media that Israel was responsible.

US officials who spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the Israel attack in Isfahan said it came as the US and Israel were discussing ways to counter Iran’s military capabilities, hinting at potential US involvement.

One reason why the US would support Israeli attacks on Iran is Tehran’s support for Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, although Iran still insists it hasn’t provided military equipment since the invasion. “The Iranians are providing drones to Russia and those drones are killing innocent Ukrainians. There is no chance today of us going back to the negotiating table,” Nides said.

Author: Dave DeCamp

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