August 31, 2023
The US and Israel held their largest-ever
joint exercise earlier this year
The US and Israel will simulate striking
Iranian nuclear facilities as part of a series of joint military exercises that
will be held in the coming months, The Times of Israel reported Wednesday,
citing Israeli TV.
Back in January, the US and Israel
conducted the Juniper Oak exercises, which were the largest-ever joint drills
between the two nations. The Israeli military said Juniper Oak was just the
first of a series of drills that the US and Israel will hold this year.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported one of the
upcoming drills would simulate Israel facing a multi-front missile attack that
will involve the US deployment of Patriot missile systems. Another drill will
rehearse a joint US-Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The plan to simulate attacks on Iran has
not been publicly confirmed by the US or Israel, but the two nations have
previously rehearsed bombing Iran, including during drills that were held over
the Mediterranean Sea in November 2022.
While nuclear facilities would be the
target in the simulated drills, there’s no sign Iran is looking to build a
nuclear weapon, which was affirmed by a recent US intelligence report. Often
missing from the conversation about Iran’s civilian nuclear program is the fact
that Israel has a secret nuclear weapons program and an arsenal of nukes that
the US does not acknowledge exists.
The report comes amid heightened tensions
between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf. The US seizure of a tanker
carrying Iranian oil in April provoked two Iranian tanker seizures, and the US
responded by beefing up its military presence in the region.
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