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An Israeli official denied the accusations made yesterday by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and described Zarif’s statement that Israel is trying to trick the United States into launching a war against Iran with “nonsense.”
As Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Kan public radio that it is Israel that should be on the alert, in anticipation of a possible Iranian attack on the first anniversary of the assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a attack with a US drone in the vicinity of the Baghdad airport, like this one. Today (January 3) of last year.
Ignite the war
Yesterday, Zarif accused Israel of trying to start a war, planning attacks against US forces in Iraq. He added in a tweet on his Twitter account that the supposed Israeli plan will put the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in front of a false impasse to ignite the war.
In addition, he claimed that there is “new intelligence from Iraq indicating that Israeli agents of instigators are planning attacks against Americans, to link the outgoing president with an excuse to wage war.”
The Iranian minister’s tweet came two days after he accused the US president of seeking an excuse for the war in Iraq.
Tension mount
Also yesterday, the Revolutionary Guards commander, Major General Hossein Salami, promised to respond to “any move” against Iran, in light of the escalating tension with the United States. On the eve of the first anniversary of the assassination of the Quds Force commander in the Revolutionary Guards, he said: “We will respond with an equal, decisive and strong blow to any step the enemy can take against us.”
Trump had previously warned Iran that he would hold it responsible should any of its citizens die in Iraq, after a missile was struck near the US embassy in Baghdad last month, and Washington blamed nearby Iraqi factions. Tehran to be behind him.
Military movements
It is noteworthy that recently sighted US military movements in the region, including the targeting of the aircraft carrier “USS Nimitz” and associated naval parts in the Gulf waters in recent weeks, and the flight of strategic bombers, “B-52” over the Gulf twice in recent times.
But US press reports said this week that Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller had ordered “Nimitz” back to his country. “The New York Times” quoted US officials as saying the move was a “de-escalation” signal against Tehran, following fears of a confrontation between the two sides before Trump left the White House on January 20.
Notably, decades-long relations between Iran and the United States witnessed additional strains during the era of Trump, who adopted a policy of “maximum pressure” toward Tehran.
In 2018, the Republican president unilaterally withdrew from the deal between Tehran and the major powers on the Iranian nuclear program and reimposed tough economic sanctions on Tehran.
The two countries have been on the brink of a direct military confrontation twice since June 2019, especially after Soleimani’s assassination by a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport, according to Al-Arabiya.
