During special media briefing that was held last night for the Foreign Media Core that is stationed in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Jerusalem’s red-line is Israel’s survival. In response to a question on whether Israel would consider launching an attack on Iranian soil, Netanyahu stressed that if the Islamic Republic would pose an imminent threat to the existence of the Jewish State – all options are on the table. When asked by a reporter weather the Prime Minister doesn’t rule out “engaging Iran within its own borders,” Netanyahu responded by saying that Israel’s red line pertains to its survival. He said, “We do what is necessary to protect the state of Israel against the Iranian regime that openly calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state.” The Israeli leader elaborated “I’m not ruling out doing anything we need to do to defend ourselves. For the moment, Israel is the only … Israel’s military is the only in the world that is directly engaging Iranian forces. We’re doing that in Syria and pulling them back. Because what they want to do is bring their army … 15,000 kilometers from Iran to our border, bring in missiles from 400 to 700 kilometers which covers all of Israel, bring in 80,000 Shiite militias – with the expressed peruse of destroying us. And my policy has been were gonna stop you, were gonna stop things, bad things, when they are small. So, we meet Iran head on in Syria, and if we need to, we will do whatever else we need to do to protect ourselves.”
Meanwhile at the United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the international community, one again, to unite against Iran’s malign activities – that according to the top American diplomat – pose a concrete threat to civilians across the Middle East. Following a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Secretary Pompeo underscored the responsibility of the council to address the real threats that are posed by the Islamic Republic. He said, “We had a productive Security Council meeting where the United States made clear that Iran’s ballistic missile activity is out of control and that they are defying the U.N. Security Council 2231 in numerous ways. Iran has been testing — on a testing spree and a proliferation spree, and this must come to an end. We want to work with all members of the Security Council to reimpose tougher restrictions on the Iranian ballistic missiles. The restrictions that were in place under UNSCR 1929 are the place that the world needs to be today. This threat is real and upon us. We clearly see that JCPOA didn’t succeed in stopping this malign activity. The Security Council has a responsibility to protect citizens in the Middle East, Americans traveling through the Middle East, Europeans who are now at risk from Iranian missiles, and we called upon every member of the Security Council to undertake actions that would achieve that.” Secretary Pompeo also took the opportunity to point to the fact, in which Iran conducted most of its ballistic missile testing, when the United States – under the Obama Administration – was still part of the JCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – which is the technical term for the Iranian nuclear agreement. While the international community understands the severity of Iran’s ballistic missile program – their reluctance to acknowledge the risks that Iran presents poses a major threat to global security. That said, under the Trump Administration, many countries have joined to set up a response that will ultimately deter the Islamic Republic’s aggressive behavior.