Israel, the only state in the Middle East that allegedly possesses nuclear arms, considers Iran a direct threat to its national security. Under an agreement signed between Israel and the US, Washington will assist Israel with missile defense in case of war in the region.
The Israel Air Force is due to hold one of its largest drills in years with the United States. During the drills, fighter jets will simulate offensive strikes against Iran’s nuclear program infrastructure. The drills are taking place over the Mediterranean Sea and Israel from November 29 to December 1.
However, Israeli officials have signaled that they are reluctant to attack Iran.
As Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz puts it, “Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out.”
The Iranian nuclear program has been a serious issue of concern for western nations since the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who believed that Tehran should have its own nuclear weapons.
However, during the presidency of Donald Trump, the US left the nuclear deal and reinstated harsh economic sanctions in 2018. A year later, Tehran declared that it was going to scale back its own JCPOA obligations.
In the summer of 2022, the 46th US President Joe Biden labeled Trump’s decision to leave the nuclear deal a “gigantic mistake” in terms of geostrategy, saying that Iran was closer to developing nuclear arms than it had been before.
However, progress has since stalled. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a resolution on November 17 that demanded that Iran cooperate with the investigation into uranium traces found at several undeclared sites. The resolution was drafted by the US, UK, France and Germany and was characterized by political scientists as hostile towards Iran. Negotiations are suspended for now, while Tehran is preparing to receive an IAEA delegation.