Top U.S. officials did not object to a plan to attack Iran from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) when it was presented by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“Gantz updated American officials that he has set a deadline for when the IDF will need to complete preparations for an attack against Iran,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “The Americans did not voice opposition to the Israeli preparations when presented with the date by Gantz on Thursday, a senior diplomatic source said the following day.”
“There was no veto,” a source told the Jerusalem Post.
The news comes as Iran has been building up its forces along its western border “in order to attack countries and forces in the Middle East in general and Israel in particular,” Gantz warned.
“We are preparing for any such attempt, and will do everything necessary to protect our citizens and our assets,” Gantz said. “In its aspirations to become a hegemon, Iran seeks to destroy all traces of freedom, human dignity and peace in the Middle East and beyond. The nuclear program is a means to its hegemonic goals.”
When discussing Iran’s efforts to advance their nuclear program, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the Biden administration is prepared to “turn to other options” if diplomacy fails in preventing its advancement.
“President Biden is committed to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon and believes diplomacy, in coordination with allies and regional partners, is the best path to achieve that goal,” Psaki said. “We believe a diplomatic resolution offers the best path to avoiding a nuclear crisis. However, given the ongoing advances in Iran’s nuclear program, the President has asked his team to be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails and we must turn to other options, and that requires preparations.”
According to The Guardian, negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program are “proving fruitless,” and Israel’s lead diplomat on Iran, Joshua Zarka, has warned that they “have reached the last stretch of diplomacy.”
The Iranian state-affiliated newspaper the Tehran Times published an article on Wednesday titled “Just one wrong move!” with a map of Israel showing numerous pins representing rocket alerts for potential targets as a threat to the country that Iranian forces could strike wherever they want.
“An intensification of the Israeli military threats against Iran seems to suggest that the Zionist regime has forgotten that Iran is more than capable of hitting them from anywhere,” the article said, adding it “doesn’t need to remind the illegitimate regime of Israel of Iran’s defense capabilities.”
