Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran's leaders on Tuesday that Israel would strike back decisively if attacked, as US and Iranian strikes escalated to their highest intensity since the April ceasefire.
Benjamin Netanyahu © PMO
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran's leaders on Tuesday that Israel would strike back decisively if attacked, as US and Iranian strikes escalated to their highest intensity since the April ceasefire.
"I will say this to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on it being quiet if you attack us," Netanyahu said at the Negev Conference in Dimona, according to video released by his office.
"Do not count on a rerun. Because it will not be a rerun, and that was already powerful enough. This will be a different event, much more powerful."
He added that "the days when someone hurts us and we do not strike them back twofold are over," pointing to Israel's past operations against what he called Iran's "Axis of Evil" as a model for future retaliation.
The warning came as fighting between the United States and Iran intensified sharply this week, with several rounds of American strikes on Iranian military sites and retaliatory Iranian attacks on US allies across the Gulf, straining the ceasefire reached in April to unprecedented levels.
President Donald Trump has transmitted a draft civilian nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress, insisting it will only be approved if Riyadh normalizes relations with Israel, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran has held new talks with neighbouring Oman on management of the Strait of Hormuz, blockaded over nearly six months of conflict, with Oman's foreign minister saying he was hopeful a temporary corridor through the waterway could be announced soon.
We've all seen this movie before. Every few months, some headline declares that Washington is finally ready to wash its hands of Israel.
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