The election of Iran’s new hardline president, coupled with Washington’s eagerness to sign a new nuclear deal, has led Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi to order some units to accelerate preparations for an armed conflict with Iran, sources in the Defense Minister’s office said.
One of the factors that appear to be behind these moves is that after President Ibrahim Raisi takes office on 3 Aug. He will form a new national security board expected to fully obey his orders.
Raisi held his first official press conference since his election during which he stressed that Iran’s foreign relations would not depend on decisions made under the nuclear deal.
In a last-minute attempt to persuade Washington not to go back to the nuclear agreement with Iran, Israel’s chief of General staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi met today with Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the beginning of his four-day visit to Washington.
The DC trip is Kochavi’s first and is aimed mainly to present the Americans with intelligence Israeli sources say proves that Iran is cheating on the nuclear agreement. The other topic likely to be discussed is the potential threat posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of the Iranian proxies in the region.
The readout of the meeting offered some hint of the topic but was predictably bland: “The two leaders discussed several issues of mutual concern including the current security environment throughout the Middle East. Gen. Milley reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to its relationship with Israel.”
During the planned four-day visit, Kochavi will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, and the head of US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Gen. Richard Clark.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense met to discuss the implications of Raisi’s election and concluded he may accelerate the trend of Iranian positions on the borders of Syria and Lebanon.
