Israel’s new Defense Minister, Israel Katz, ruled on Monday that Iran was “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities.”
“We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal: to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel,” Katz wrote in a message on the social network X.
Regarding Lebanon, Katz declared that “there will be no ceasefire and there will be no respite [pour le Hezbollah] until the objectives of the war are achieved.”
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Concerning the Gaza Strip, the new Minister of Defense indicated that the most important objective was the return of the hostages. “We will do everything to bring them home and ensure the defeat of Hamas,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, speaking to the international press in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that “by far the most important issue for the future of this region, for the security of the State of Israel, is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
He adds that this issue is the main topic of discussion during meetings between the Israeli prime minister and the American president-elect.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a handover ceremony at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, November 10, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
“President Trump made it clear during his election campaign that he understands very well the dangers of this Iranian nuclear project,” Saar said. “I am sure that we can work together to stabilize the region, to guarantee its future. »
Israel has for years accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, something the Islamic Republic – whose leaders regularly call for the destruction of the Jewish state – has always denied.
In 2018, the United States, under the presidency of Donald Trump, denounced the international Vienna agreement concluded three years earlier with a view to limiting and controlling Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In response, the Islamic Republic has increased its production of enriched uranium to levels never before reached, and its stocks continue to increase, according to reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog of nuclear.
On October 26, Israeli aircraft launched a raid on military targets in Iran, in retaliation for a salvo of some 200 missiles fired by Tehran at Israel on October 1.
Before these Israeli strikes, several Israeli officials or former ministers had called for a decisive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but according to information from the American press, this option was ruled out following strong pressure from Washington .
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