Netanyahu tells Biden that Israel plans to strike military targets in Iran — WP

  WASHINGTON:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the administration of US President Joe Biden that Israel plans to strike milit...

 

WASHINGTON:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the administration of US President Joe Biden that Israel plans to strike military targets in Iran, not nuclear or oil facilities, The Washington Post reported.

According to its sources among officials, during a phone call with Biden on October 9, Netanyahu said, "he was planning to target military infrastructure in Iran." According to the publication, this means that the Jewish state may follow with "a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war."

The publication notes that this plan of Netanyahu was met with relief in Washington. The publication stresses that if Israel strikes oil facilities in Iran, energy prices could rise sharply. An attack by the Jewish state on Iranian nuclear facilities could trigger "further escalation" and increase the risk that the United States will be drawn into the ongoing events to a greater extent. On October 2, Biden said that he did not consider it appropriate for Israel to strike nuclear facilities in Iran. According to sources, Netanyahu was in a "more moderated place" in that discussion than he had previously been, the newspaper says. According to the publication, an Israeli strike on military targets in Iran is expected before the US presidential election, which will take place on November 5.

On October 1, Iran launched a massive missile strike on Israel in response to the assassinations of key figures in the leadership of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran said 90% of the missiles successfully hit their designated targets, while Israel said it intercepted most of the about 180 missiles fired by Iran. Israel Defense Forces General Staff pledged to choose a time and deliver a surprise response to the attack, while Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that strikes on Israel in that case would be even more powerful.

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