Israel can “count on the full support of the United States in defending Israel against Iranian attacks,” Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu. US Secretary of Defense Austin now confirms this.
The US has once again pledged its support to Israel in the face of Iranian threats of retaliation. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in conversation with his Israeli colleague Joav Galant, reaffirmed “the US’s unwavering support for Israel’s defense in the face of growing threats from Iran and its regional proxies,” the Pentagon said in Washington.
As US President Joe Biden had already clearly assured Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel could “count on the full support of the USA in defending Israel against Iranian attacks,” which Tehran had publicly threatened, it said.
According to Galant, Israel will not leave unanswered a possible attack by Iran on its territory. “A direct Iranian attack will require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran,” Galant said in his conversation with Austin, the Israeli government announced Thursday evening. It was the second time within a week that the defense ministers of both allied countries spoke on the telephone. They discussed readiness for an Iranian attack on the State of Israel, “which could lead to regional escalation,” it said.
Galant explained Israel’s preparations for this eventuality and emphasized that the State of Israel would not tolerate an Iranian attack on its territory, it said. “We are ready for an attack and the resulting defense, for which we will use a variety of army capabilities,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the same day. Israel can also rely on its strategic partners, said Hagari. After a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria more than a week ago, threats from Tehran towards Israel have recently increased.
The attack was like an attack on Iranian territory and Israel must be punished, Iran’s head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on his colleagues in China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to stop Iran from escalating. Ministry spokesman Matthew Miller said on Thursday that a number of phone calls had taken place in the past 24 hours. Similar discussions would be held with European allies and partners. Biden had assured Israel the day before that the US commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies was “ironclad.”
Source: Stern
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