Iran warned Sunday it would not delay responding to any Israeli submarine found in the Persian Gulf with a “strong and massive” response.
“Israel needs to know that our response to an attack on our national security will be strong and major,” Abu al-Fadl Amoui, a consideration for Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Al-Jazeera Arabic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes a new submarine to the Israeli Navy at a reception on Haifa in 2016
(Photo: GPO)
“Israel is looking for excuses to drag the region into tensions that will create chaos in the final days of Trump’s presidency,” the official said, referring to Donald Trump’s departure from the U.S.
Amoui also threatened nearby Arab countries that have established normal ties with Israel or have secret relations, warning that bringing Jerusalem too close to Iran’s borders would encourage dangerous response.
Israel recently signed normalization agreements with the two Gulf states, Bahrain and the UAE, apparently blessed by Saudi Arabia, which is a major competitor for hegemony in the Middle East.
Comments of criticism come just days after an Israeli submarine attacked the Suez Canal in what security experts say was a demonstration of a force targeting Iran, according to the Washington Post.
Citing Arab sources of information, the report said the move was made with the agreement of Egypt and in the midst of tensions between Jerusalem and Tehran.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the UN General Assembly in September 2018
(Photo: GPO)
The sources claimed that the ship was heading for the Gulf of Persia, and by exposing itself above sea level it was sending a warning message to the Islamic Republic.
The Post reported that Yoel Guzansky, a senior at the Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said the use of the submarine “was a kind of psychological warfare to deter Iran. “
Meanwhile, IDF Think Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman has said he does not rule out that Iran could invade Israel from Iraq or Yemen. He said Tehran is working to develop smart drones and missiles in those two countries.
Iranians in Tehran burn Israeli and American flags in protest at Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s assassination in November
(Photo: Reuters)
Tensions between Israel and Iran have risen to new heights following the targeted killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh near Tehran in November, which the Iranian regime blamed on Israel.
Jerusalem has issued its embassies on high alert as a result of the killings and as Iran prepares to mark the first anniversary of the US assassination by Basedad’s senior military officer Qasem Soleimani Last January.