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Illustration. PHOTO/Reuters
Since talks resumed last week, aimed at breathing new life into the nuclear pact reached between Iran and world powers in 2015, a steady stream of reports in the Israeli and US media have hypothesized about the possibility of “other options” if diplomacy fails.
Read: US and Israel to discuss military drills against Iran
According to the latest Russian Today report, Sunday (12/12/2021), Israel’s Defense Minister, Benny Gantz informed US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about preparations and drills for a potential military strike against the country’s arch-foe during his visit to the US.
“Such exercises, if they violate Iranian airspace, will be considered an act of aggression that will not go unanswered,” an unnamed military official told Iran’s semi-official news agency Nournews, which is allegedly affiliated with the Supreme National Security Council.
The hostile rhetoric comes amid renewed talks in Vienna over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Negotiations have not gone far, with Tehran continuing to demand that Washington lift its sanctions in full.
Read: Iran Accused of Building Military in the West to Attack Israel
“We will definitely agree to nothing less than the (original JCPOA) agreement and this will definitely be a red line for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the country’s lead negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, told Press TV on Saturday.
The JCPOA agreement effectively collapsed after then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned it in 2018, accusing Tehran of somehow violating the “spirit” of the deal. Since then, Washington has reimposed old sanctions and introduced new measures against Tehran. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic is gradually suspending its JCPOA obligations, increasing uranium enrichment and expanding its nuclear program.
(esn)
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