TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hinted that Israel was behind recent attacks on Iranian weapons depots in Iraq, and added that his country will continue to take action against the Islamic Republic wherever necessary.
“Iran has no immunity, anywhere,” he told reporters during a visit to Ukraine.
“We will act — and currently are acting — against them, wherever it is necessary,” he said, in response to a question about the recent airstrikes.
He added that Iran has become much more aggressive since signing the 2015 nuclear deal and is building military bases all over the Middle East in order to carry out its goal of wiping out the Jewish state.
Last week, Iraqi officials suggested that Israel was behind a massive explosion in an ammunition depot belonging to an Iranian-backed Shiite militia, causing tremors in the capital Baghdad.
“We believe they are weapons we were holding onto for a neighboring state and they were targeted by an oppressive colonial state on the basis of a treasonous Iraqi act,” former deputy prime minister of Iraq Baha al-Araji wrote on Twitter.
Last month, two more bases were struck. No one claimed responsibility.
Also on Monday, senior Iranian official Ali Shamkhani warned that Israel would be caught in the crossfire if war breaks out between the U.S. and Iran. Shamkhani, who as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is a close military adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that Tehran should have never signed the nuclear deal in 2015.
In a rare interview with NBC News, Shamkhani charged President Donald Trump with endangering Israel.
.@LesterHoltNBC speaks with top officials in Iran about the growing showdown with the U.S., including Ali Shamkhani. In a rare interview, the powerful head of Iran’s National Security Council says that he regrets the Iran nuclear deal. https://t.co/6X0aM9LsKR pic.twitter.com/TXpbaCJpPz
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) August 20, 2019
“As long as this approach [of sanctions] is taken by the United States, Iran will never ever seek negotiations,” he said. “Just walk the streets of Tehran and see how energetic our people are and you will realize that [what the US has] been trying to achieve has not materialized.”
He continued by slamming Trump’s policies on Israel.
“They declare al-Quds, or Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel. They pursue the ‘Deal of the Century’ project,” he said. “I believe that the one that is seeking the destruction of Israel is the country that does not see the realities on the ground.”
Shamkhani further warned that Tehran had plenty of proxy militias in the region to use at will in any war against the U.S.
“In the case of war the U.S. will be in a very terrible situation, and its regional allies as well,” he said.
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