Jerusalem: The Israeli military chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, has said that “negative developments on the horizon” could prompt Israel to take action against Iran.
At a security conference held at the Reichman University in Herzliya outside Tel Aviv, Halevi added on Tuesday that Iran, which Israel views as its arch-foe, “has progressed in recent years with enriching uranium more than ever before.”
“There are negative potential trends on the horizon which could lead to actions — we have the capabilities,” he said, without specifying the trends.
Halevi accused Iran of being connected to “everyone” who is against Israel, providing them with strategic and intelligence support, as well as funding, Xinhua news agency reported.
Israel “has the capability to strike Iran,” he added.
Halevi’s remarks come a day after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told the same conference that the number of airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria “has doubled” since December last year. He did not elaborate on the exact number of strikes.
“As part of this campaign, we are working methodically to strike the Iranian intelligence capabilities in Syria,” he said.
“These strikes inflict significant damage to the attempts by the Revolutionary Guards to establish a foothold a few kilometre from the Israeli border,” he added.
Israel has been a vocal opponent of the efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying the move will only enable Iran to develop nuclear weapons without the burden of the sanctions.
Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
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