Iran General NewsUS military chief to visit Israel for talks on...

US military chief to visit Israel for talks on Iran

-

ImageDaily Telegraph: The head of America's armed forces will make a hastily-arranged visit to Israel this week, fuelling speculation about a possible Washington-sanctioned Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear programme.

The Daily Telegraph

By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem

ImageThe head of America's armed forces will make a hastily-arranged visit to Israel this week, fuelling speculation about a possible Washington-sanctioned Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear programme.
 
Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will use a rest day during a planned tour of Europe to meet with his Israeli opposite number, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi.

It is understood the rest day was to have been spent in Europe but at the last moment he decided to fly to Israel for talks, with the Iranian nuclear question at the top of the agenda.

Adm Mullen last visited Israel in December – the first visit from a US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in more than a decade.

A second visit in such a short time, sources indicated, was a demonstration of the close relationship Adm Mullen had forged with Gen Ashkenazi.

Israel is America's closest military ally and relations between the two sides are very close.

Gen Ashkenazi himself is due in Washington for his own official visit within a month.

Israel would require tacit US military approval for an attack on Iran, because America controls the Iraqi airspace which Israeli jets are likely to cross if they mount an assault.

News of Adm Mullen's visit comes after American sources revealed Israel carried out a full rehearsal of an air assault on Iran's network of nuclear sites involving scores of strike aircraft flying long-range missions.

While Israeli officials remained silent on the matter, sources in Washington at the Pentagon and other US government agencies confirmed the exercise staged in early June over the eastern Mediterranean.

The target of the exercise was 900 miles from Israel, roughly the same distance as Iran's nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz.

As many as 100 F-16 and F-15 jets were involved alongside Israeli helicopters with long-range fuel tanks which practised rescuing downed combat aircrew.

The exercise came as US President George W Bush and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, both used the same language in public to put pressure on Tehran, saying that a nuclear Iran was "unacceptable''.

Speculation about a possible attack intensified this week when John Bolton, America's former ambassador to the United Nations, suggested Israel might attack between the presidential election on November 4 and the inauguration in January.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

Iran expects to find four new gas fields, Mehr reports

Bloomberg: Iran expects to find four new gas fields...

Unknown aircraft fires missile in Iran – TV

Reuters: An unknown aircraft has fired a missile in...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you