Israel calls Iran a 'global challenge' but says war with Tehran would be 'last' resort

Iran is as much of a challenge to other countries as it is to Israel, but war with Tehran would be the “last case”, stated Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz. During the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday, Gantz weighed on his country’s tensions with Iran, which according to him, is a “global challenge”. He exchanged views about Abraham Accords, the Middle East region and specifically, Iran. It is to mention that both Iran and Israel remain at odds over a range of factors including Tehran’s nuclear program.

Even though the Israeli Defence Minister said that the war with Iran would be the last option, he did not rule out the possibility of conducting military operations to prevent the nuclearisation of Tehran. He also expressed hope that Israel would get backing from America. 

Amid sour ties, Israel’s Benny Gantz said, “Should we jump to a war at the first opportunity we have, no”.

“Should we be able to conduct military operations to prevent it [a nuclear Iran] if needed, the answer is 'yes.' Are we building the ability [for war], 'yes' Should we use it as the last case, ‘yes’, and I hope that we will get US support," said Gantz.

The Israeli Defence Minister also said that when it comes to Iran becoming a nuclear state, the entire world including the Middle Eastern region should oppose it. Gantz said, “We as the Israeli government, as leaders of the Jewish country have a historical responsibility to make sure that this [a nuclear attack] doesn't happen”. He noted that Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) were suffering more than Israel from Iran’s actions.

The Israel’s Defence Minister said, “The Abraham Accords enables us to expand our relations [with regional partners]  in security aspects, in business to business [frameworks], organizations to organizations, and people to people."

"And of course, we are creating a regional architecture for defense," Gantz said.

US warns Iran of isolation in int’l community for hosting Russia’s Putin

Meanwhile, the United States warned that Iran risked dependency on Russia after welcoming President Vladimir Putin on his first foreign trip since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. While Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief William Burns addressed tensions between Tehran and Moscow, US State Department spokesman Ned Price warned that “Iran has now cast its lot with a small number of countries who wore that veil of neutrality only to end up supporting President Putin in his war against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday visited Iran for a three-way summit with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts over the situation in Syria. On the sidelines of the summit between Putin, Ebrahim Raisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Russian President also met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for “long-term cooperation” with Moscow. 

Image: AP