2 ay önce

'Fully, fully, fully supportive': Did US help Israel carry strikes on Iran?

The US has adopted a multi-pronged approach to handle Israel's war in the Middle East, catering to multiple audiences, sometimes behaving as Tel Aviv's benevolent lover and sometimes as a mystic friend and rarely an enraged partner.

AP

Despite this readiness for potential US intervention, the Israeli Air Force had already devised an "independent plan". / Photo: AP

On Saturday Israel launched air strikes on Iran targeting what it described as "military targets."

The United States was notified by Israel ahead of its strikes on targets in Iran but was not involved in the operation, a US official told Reuters news agency.

But reports emerging from Israeli media indicate that the US positioned a fleet of fighter jets on standby to rescue Israeli pilots if Tel Aviv's Saturday attack on Iran had gone badly,

"Israel and the US coordinated a plan to ensure the safe extraction of pilots should the operation have not succeeded," said Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.

The report stressed that while the US did not take part in the attack itself, a fleet from the US Central Command (AFCENT) was prepared to intervene if necessary.

"The Americans' advanced capabilities in the region would allow them to carry out a rescue operation," the report stated.

Despite this readiness for potential US intervention, the Israeli Air Force had already devised an "independent plan for pilot rescue without relying on American support,” it added.

Israel on Saturday said it had carried out a four-hour assault on Iran, with Tehran stating that it had successfully repelled “attempts by the Zionist entity to attack some points in Tehran and across the country.”

This attack followed Iran's launch of over 180 missiles at Israel on October 1, which Tehran described as “retaliation” for the assassinations of top leaders of Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A top official in Tehran said that the United States played a role in Saturday’s Israeli strikes on Iran,

“The Americans participated in the attack,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview on Sunday.

“The Americans provided an air corridor for the Zionist air force, and the defensive equipment they sent to them is considered a form of involvement in the recent operations,” he added, saying that US participation is “completely clear.”

Trump takes a dig at Harris for not addressing Israel's attack on Iran

"Fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel"

After October 1, Iran's missile attack on Israel the US warned that there would be “severe consequences” for Iran, pledging to work with Tel Aviv to extract a price from Tehran.

Washington provided similar backing to Israel after assisting it in repelling Iran's last strike in April, but then immediately moved to urge Israel against reacting too widely.

But in October Biden officials weren’t just stressing Israel’s right to respond but indicating that the US would be assisting Israel in launching that response, as reported by Times of Israel.

“There will be severe consequences for this attack and we will work with Israel to make that the case,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

The US President went a step ahead and said:

“At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defence of Israel, make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”