RIYADH: US media reported on Tuesday that the US and Israel were considering conducting joint military exercises to mimic an attack on Iran and its Middle Eastern proxies. According to a report from Fox News Digital, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi are considering holding an Air Force exercise to prepare soldiers for a potential conflict with Iran and its proxies. This could happen in the coming weeks.
The talk with Milley resulted in Kochavi saying: ‘It was acknowledged that we are at a critical juncture in time that necessitates the acceleration of operational plans and collaboration against Iran and its terrorist allies in the area’. Against the Iranian menace, he claimed, the Israeli Defense Forces support all operational plans. Iran is subject to a lot of internal, external, and military pressures, yet it nevertheless actively pursues a nuclear programme.
According to a readout of the meeting, the two military leaders at the Pentagon talked about ‘regional security issues, opportunities for greater bilateral cooperation and coordination to defend against a wide range of threats posed by Iran across the region and other items of mutual strategic interest’. As important allies devoted to maintaining stability and security in the Middle East, the US and Israel continue to have a strong military partnership.
The subterranean Fordow nuclear facility has reportedly started to enrich uranium to a purity of 60%, according to Iranian media on Tuesday. Iran is already enriching uranium elsewhere to a purity of 60 percent, which is more than the 20 percent it achieved prior to the 2015 agreement with major nations to curb enrichment at 3.67 percent but far short the 90 percent needed for material suitable for use in bombs. Under the Donald Trump administration, the US withdrew from the agreement that was made in order to restrict Iranian nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Trump said that the lifting of the sanctions had enabled Iran to step up its Middle Eastern aggressiveness, a claim that was supported by US partners in the area.
While Tehran installed cascades of more effective advanced centrifuges like the IR-2m, IR-4, and IR-6 as the deal fell apart in 2018, the agreement only permits Iran to use first-generation IR-1 centrifuges. An Iranian drone was used in the bombing, according to US Navy investigators looking into a last week attack on an oil tanker connected to an Israeli billionaire. The drone attack on the oil tanker Pacific Zircon, flying the flag of Liberia, last Tuesday off the coast of Oman, appears to be a part of the ongoing shadow conflict between Israel and its arch-enemy Iran, which has also included the targeting of vessels with ties to Israel in vital Middle Eastern waterways.
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