US sought Israeli joint military planning on Iran, reports say
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The United States wanted to coordinate joint military action against Iran with the Israeli occupation amid concerns regarding its growing strength.
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US Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff, Mark Milley with Israeli counterpart Aviv Kohavi and then-Israeli Security Minister Benny Gantz watch, a live-fire exercise in occupied Palestine, September 15, 2022 (AP)
The Biden administration proposed to the Israeli occupation that it conducts joint military planning on Iran, Axios reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the proposal was made by Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Erik Kurilla, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley during a recent trip they made to occupied Palestine.
From the standpoint of the US, taking part in joint planning against Iran would be a first and would advance the degree of US-Israeli military collaboration, Axios explained.
Meanwhile, it was said that the plan was met with mistrust from the Israeli occupation over concerns that it may be an effort to control future moves against Iran, particularly its nuclear program and infrastructure.
There have been requests for clarifications from Washington over what "joint military planning" actually entails, the report claimed, despite assurances from Washington that it has no intention of interfering in any way with the occupation's plans.
Furthermore, Axios underlined that the United States wanted to reassure "Tel Aviv" of its military commitment, not organize strikes against Iran's nuclear sites.
Finally, it stressed that the joint venture between the two would entail holding bilateral discussions on how to handle situations involving present and potential regional events connected to Iran, as well as sharing strategies for various contingencies.
This comes after Iranian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said the Israeli occupation was too feeble to be viewed as a threat to Iran.
Dismissing claims by his Israeli counterpart about the occupation being ready to attack Iran even without support from the United States, Mousavi underlined that such comments were merely meant to boost the morale of the Israeli soldiers and fix internal Israeli issues.
"Anyone already familiar with the military capabilities of both sides knows well that the updated size and scale of the Zionist regime’s military would maximally correspond only to one of the plentiful operations that Iran’s Armed Forces undertook during the 1980-1988 Iraqi-imposed war on the Islamic Republic," Mousavi said.
The statements came amid concerns from "Tel Aviv" about the occupation's faltering plans of an "anti-Iran axis" amid rapprochement between Iran and regional powers.
The Israeli occupation entity considers that the restoration of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is deeply concerning and is a major blow to the plans of the entity and the United States, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said.
"Tel Aviv and Washington in the past years hoped to exploit the rivalry between Riyadh and Tehran in order to establish an Israeli-Arab axis against Iran's efforts to create a nuclear weapon" and considered that "the announcement of the agreement, which was achieved with the mediation of China, dealt a severe blow to these hopes."
Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dreamt of bringing Saudi Arabia into the so-called "Abraham Accords", being an important foreign policy goal. But Saudi Arabia's landmark agreement and restoration of diplomatic relations with Iran have cut that dream short - catching Netanyahu off guard and not ready to face what will be his dream's demise.
Former senior American diplomat Ferial Saeed told Responsible Statecraft that even if the occupation were to strike Iran, regional strategy-wise they wouldn't have access to Saudi airspace or Saudi military facilities, which is another dream crushed.
Read next: Diplomacy between Saudi Arabia, Iran could isolate 'Israel'
