Newsletters
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz declared Thursday that the military is fully prepared to resume war against Iran and is waiting only for Washington's authorisation, issuing the starkest threat Jerusalem has made since a fragile ceasefire took effect earlier this month.
"Israel is prepared to renew the war against Iran. The Israeli military is ready in defense and offense, and the targets are marked," Katz said in a video statement released after a security assessment with senior military commanders.
He said Israel was waiting for a green light from the United States "first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty" and to "return Iran to the Dark Ages and the Stone Age" by destroying central energy, electricity, and economic infrastructure. "The attack this time will be different and deadly," he added, promising blows "in the most painful places."
The US-brokered ceasefire, which Pakistan mediated and which took effect on April 8, has been repeatedly strained. Talks in Islamabad collapsed on April 11 after a 21-hour negotiating session, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blaming Washington's "maximalism and shifting goalposts."
President Donald Trump extended the truce indefinitely pending a unified Iranian proposal, while maintaining a naval blockade he says costs Tehran $500 million daily. Iran responded by re-closing the Strait of Hormuz on April 18. On Thursday, Trump ordered the US Navy to destroy Iranian boats laying mines in the waterway.
The core negotiating gap remains Iran's nuclear programme. Washington has demanded a 20-year suspension of uranium enrichment; Tehran has offered five years, a proposal the US rejected. Trump said Wednesday he believes Iran "wants to make a deal very badly," while also noting the Iranian leadership appears "fractured."
Reports from Israeli media indicate IRGC generals have effectively been running government functions, sidelining the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since succeeding his father, killed in the February 28 opening strikes of Operation Epic Fury.
Also on Thursday, Israeli military prosecutors indicted two Air Force technicians at Tel Nof Airbase on charges of spying for Iran, including aiding an enemy in wartime. In Lebanon, the military announced the discovery of a Hezbollah command centre 25 metres beneath a clothing store in the town of Khiam. Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met in Washington for a second round of peace talks as a 10-day Lebanon ceasefire neared expiry.
The conflict, now in its eighth week, has killed thousands in Iran and Lebanon, displaced more than 1.2 million in Lebanon, and claimed at least 23 Israeli and 13 American lives.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
