Israel prepares for Iran War with possibility that US may attack Iran before end of Trump Presidency

Arlington: – US President Donald Trump can order an attack on Iran before handing over the reins of the United States to Joe Biden. In that scenario, the Iran-affiliated terrorist groups in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza or Iran could directly launch attacks on Israel. Taking this possibility into account, the Israeli defence ministry has ordered the military to be in a state of readiness against any Iranian attack. A website in the United States has posted this, citing Israeli officials as the source.

The US website claimed that the period till Biden takes over as the President is very sensitive. The website has cited the developments over the last two weeks in support of the claim. The US President had made preparations to launch an attack on Iran, who has reportedly built enriched Uranium stock, 12 times the permissible limit in the nuclear deal of 2015. But Trump withheld his decision after facing opposition from other senior officials from the administration and started exploring other options. At the same time, the officials had also warned that the United States had not discarded the option of an attack on Iran. The website pointed out that this report was published by the US newspaper The New York Times, quoting officials from the US administration.

The Trump administration had not reacted on the concerned news report. But Christopher Miller, the Secretary for Defence, appointed on an immediate basis, has held talks with Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz, twice in the last two weeks. The US website claimed that along with the developments in Syria, the US-Israel defence cooperation was the topic of discussion between them. Amid these developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Saudi Arabia and met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The US website said in its report that an Israeli official claimed that discussions regarding Iran were held between the Saudi and Israeli leaders.

While the discussions were being held between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the presence of US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, US B-52 bombers have reached the Gulf. Around the same time, Hossein Dehghan, advisor to the Iranian supremo Ayatollah Khamenei, threatened the United States. Dehghan threatened that if the United States attacked Iran, there would be a comprehensive war in the Gulf. The US website also pointed to this.

Iran has already threatened that if the United States attacked Iran, Iran would launch attacks on the US allies in the Gulf; therefore, Israel faces the biggest threat of these attacks. Iran can target Israel through its affiliated groups Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq or, can even launch a direct attack. Therefore, these orders for the high alert by the Israeli defence ministry to the military become significant.