Israeli fighter jets entered Iranian airspace multiple times as part of exercises in recent months, the Times of Israel reported. Citing a Saudi-backed outlet based in London, the Times noted that the aircraft, F-35s, went undetected by Iranian and Russian radars. The report appeared today amid mounting Israeli fears that the Biden administration is poised to conclude a new nuclear deal with Tehran, expected to grant the Iranian regime hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
During a press conference, today in Jerusalem, Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid warned Washington against making such an agreement. “The countries of the West draw a line, the Iranians ignore it, and the red line moves,” Lapid said. He claimed that the deal fails to “meet the standards set by President Biden himself: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state.”
Reports indicate that the U.S. and Iran are approaching the potential conclusion of a deal. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters today that the U.S. recently submitted its response to Iran’s comments on an EU-proposed agreement.
Politico EU reported that the EU’s compromise language would make it easier for non-U.S. Western companies to do business with certain Iranian regime-linked entities currently under U.S. sanctions.
Jerusalem has also dispatched two senior officials to Washington in recent days. Last night, Israeli national security advisor Eyal Hulata met U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House.
The U.S. summary of the call said that Sullivan “underscored President Biden’s steadfast commitment to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter its enemies and to defend itself by itself against any threat or combination of threats, including from Iran and Iranian-backed proxies; and our commitment to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.”
Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz is also expected to meet Sullivan in Washington this week, in addition to U.S. CENTCOM officers.
“We will do everything we can to influence the agreement,” Gantz said yesterday, according to JNS. He added that Israel would not be restricted by the prospective agreement and would “maintain its freedom of action as needed.”
In a tweet, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett urged Biden to abandon the negotiations, citing estimates that the expected agreement would send about $250 billion to the Iranian regime. “Throughout the past year, even when it was very close, we successfully convinced our White House counterparts not to give in to Iranian demands,” he wrote.
I call on @POTUS Biden & the US administration to refrain, even now at this last minute, from signing the agreement with Iran. This agreement will send approximately a quarter of a trillion dollars to the Iranian terror administration's pocket and to its regional proxies, >>
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) August 23, 2022
The U.S. and Israel simulated strikes on Iran during joint exercises, the Times also reported. The Saudi outlet’s report claimed that this coordination essentially confirms Washington’s willingness to participate in military activity targeting Iran in the absence of an agreement with Tehran.