Israel said to expect US backing for future strikes on Iran if it revives nuclear program

Meeting Netanyahu, Trump says he doesn’t expect Iran will restart hostilities, but US is ‘ready, willing and able’ if it does; PM likens Tehran’s capacities to tumors that may come back. Israel anticipates the United States will permit it to launch new strikes on Iran in the event that the Islamic Republic attempts to restart its nuclear program, and Jerusalem is preparing for that possibility, a report said Monday.

Later, as US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for a dinner in the White House, both men praised the Israeli and American strikes on Iran’s nuclear program last month, saying the campaign was a success, though they acknowledged the possibility that hostilities could restart if Iran does not want to keep the peace.

Axios, citing two sources, reported before the Trump-Netanyahu meeting that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had told officials after meetings in Washington last week that he thinks the White House would support new Israeli strikes under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include an attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear program, or to extract the existing highly enriched uranium it is believed to have stored in underground facilities that the US bombed last month. (Read More)