Israel Says Secret Files Prove Iran Lied About Nuclear Program

[OriZ 3,157]

Another day, another Iranian lie exposed.

 

#Germany2.0

 

JERUSALEM — Revealing a huge archive of stolen Iranian nuclear plans, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel accused Iran on Monday of lying for years about its efforts to build a nuclear weapon.

Days before President Trump was to decide whether to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Mr. Netanyahu presented records from a secret warehouse in Tehran, making the case that Iranian leaders had deceived the international nuclear agency when they insisted their nuclear program was for peaceful purposes. Israeli spies seized the documents in an overnight raid in January, a senior Israeli official said.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, a top Iranian negotiator of the nuclear agreement, called Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks “a very childish and even a ridiculous play.”

In a telephone interview with state-run television, he said Mr. Netanyahu’s presentation was “a prearranged show with the aim of impacting Trump’s decision, or perhaps it is a coordinated plan by him and Trump in order to destroy the J.C.P.O.A.,” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear agreement’s formal name.

Mr. Netanyahu, in a highly theatrical presentation from the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, played clips of Iranian leaders repeatedly attesting that their country harbored no ambition for building nuclear weapons — and then pointed to photos, videos, blueprints and other evidence Israeli agents had harvested, he said, that showed the Iranians had been deceitful all along.

“These files conclusively prove that Iran is brazenly lying when it said it never had a nuclear weapons program,” Mr. Netanyahu said, pointing to copies of what he said were 55,000 printed pages and 183 compact discs.

He said Israel had passed the information on to the United States, which “can vouch for its authenticity.”

Mr. Netanyahu said that Iran had intensified its efforts to hide evidence of its weapons program after signing the nuclear deal in 2015 [...]

 

Story continues here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/world/middleeast/israel-iran-nuclear-netanyahu.html

 

(shortened by VJ Moderation to better comply with "fair use")

Edited May 1, 2018 by TBoneTX
shorten per "fair use"

[bcking 3,157]

I watched at least the part of the presentation that I could find, but it was only like 5 minutes. Perhaps you saw more of it and can elaborate more.

 

First off - I am going to automatically suspicious of a presentation when one of the slides is essentially two words in gigantic font. I literally laughed out loud when I saw the "IRAN LIED" slide that he put. As for actual evidence presented - He showed a satellite picture of a building, and then a picture of a door, and then a picture of a bunch of safes. He then proceeded to show maybe 3 documents (1 chart, 1 graph, 1 document or something if I recall) that were all on the screen for about 1 second each. As far as I could tell even if we take him at his word, he has proven that Iran has kept files in locked safes. That is a far cry from proving that they are actively going against the Nuclear deal and continuing to work on nuclear weapons. The realization that Iran was trying to produce a weapon is kind of a no brainer. I realize yes they denied it but no one ever believed them. We all knew they lied about that. The more important question is whether they are lying about upholding the Nuclear deal. There is no evidence of that.

 

Generally I think this sort of information is best kept confidential and shared among allies. However if you ARE going to make it public, you should try to be a bit more compelling with your "evidence". Honestly my conclusion at the end of the 5 minutes was that it was more of a desperate joke than anything else, and I know that wasn't his intention. As I said at the beginning he didn't set it up well with his power point. 

 

 

Not the most compelling slide you could create to prove your point... Perhaps I would believe it more if he used 100 point font instead of 80 point font?

Edited May 1, 2018 by bcking

[bcking 3,157]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/trump-iran-typo/index.html

 

The big 1 letter difference -

 

"Iran has a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program."

 

"Iran had a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program."

 

One is old news, the other would be a big deal.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

2 hours ago, bcking said:

I watched at least the part of the presentation that I could find, but it was only like 5 minutes. Perhaps you saw more of it and can elaborate more.

 

First off - I am going to automatically suspicious of a presentation when one of the slides is essentially two words in gigantic font. I literally laughed out loud when I saw the "IRAN LIED" slide that he put. As for actual evidence presented - He showed a satellite picture of a building, and then a picture of a door, and then a picture of a bunch of safes. He then proceeded to show maybe 3 documents (1 chart, 1 graph, 1 document or something if I recall) that were all on the screen for about 1 second each. As far as I could tell even if we take him at his word, he has proven that Iran has kept files in locked safes. That is a far cry from proving that they are actively going against the Nuclear deal and continuing to work on nuclear weapons. The realization that Iran was trying to produce a weapon is kind of a no brainer. I realize yes they denied it but no one ever believed them. We all knew they lied about that. The more important question is whether they are lying about upholding the Nuclear deal. There is no evidence of that.

 

Generally I think this sort of information is best kept confidential and shared among allies. However if you ARE going to make it public, you should try to be a bit more compelling with your "evidence". Honestly my conclusion at the end of the 5 minutes was that it was more of a desperate joke than anything else, and I know that wasn't his intention. As I said at the beginning he didn't set it up well with his power point. 

 

 

Not the most compelling slide you could create to prove your point... Perhaps I would believe it more if he used 100 point font instead of 80 point font?

I didn't watch it yesterday because I pretty much knew they were lying anyway from the get go. But it was funny watching people debate this presentation last night on Aljazeera.

 

But I have to say I really thought you or someone else photoshopped this picture to say that. So your saying this is true and this was part of the presentation?

Edited May 1, 2018 by cyberfx1024

[bcking 3,157]

12 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

I didn't watch it yesterday because I pretty much knew they were lying anyway from the get go. But it was funny watching people debate this presentation last night on Aljazeera.

 

But I have to say I really thought you or someone else photoshopped this picture to say that. So your saying this is true and this was part of the presentation?

It absolutely was. I agree it looks fake but it was in the video I watched.

 

Didn't we all know they lied about it? If we believed them when they said it wasn't for weapons we wouldn't have cared so much to even negotiate a nuclear deal. 

 

The question of whether they are following the terms is absolutely a valid one, but this presentation didn't present any evidence for that. It's old news, possibly dressed up to confuse Trump into thinking it's some new discovery and therefore worthy of not renewing the Iran Deal.

[OriZ 3,157]

4 hours ago, bcking said:

I watched at least the part of the presentation that I could find, but it was only like 5 minutes. Perhaps you saw more of it and can elaborate more.

 

First off - I am going to automatically suspicious of a presentation when one of the slides is essentially two words in gigantic font. I literally laughed out loud when I saw the "IRAN LIED" slide that he put. As for actual evidence presented - He showed a satellite picture of a building, and then a picture of a door, and then a picture of a bunch of safes. He then proceeded to show maybe 3 documents (1 chart, 1 graph, 1 document or something if I recall) that were all on the screen for about 1 second each. As far as I could tell even if we take him at his word, he has proven that Iran has kept files in locked safes. That is a far cry from proving that they are actively going against the Nuclear deal and continuing to work on nuclear weapons. The realization that Iran was trying to produce a weapon is kind of a no brainer. I realize yes they denied it but no one ever believed them. We all knew they lied about that. The more important question is whether they are lying about upholding the Nuclear deal. There is no evidence of that.

 

Generally I think this sort of information is best kept confidential and shared among allies. However if you ARE going to make it public, you should try to be a bit more compelling with your "evidence". Honestly my conclusion at the end of the 5 minutes was that it was more of a desperate joke than anything else, and I know that wasn't his intention. As I said at the beginning he didn't set it up well with his power point. 

 

 

Not the most compelling slide you could create to prove your point... Perhaps I would believe it more if he used 100 point font instead of 80 point font?

For starters, this isn't about Netanyahu...I can't stand him anyways, and he's well known for liking to be theatrical and trying to stress his points in weird ways sometimes, and I didn't even watch the presentation. Lets stick to the actual evidence not whether or not we like how it was presented. I think you are really missing the point here, there is also alot more to those files than what he has shown, some of it truly is too confidential - but the US as well as countries in Europe are already going over it to verify its authenticity. Personally, I think this was an amazing achievement that exposes the regime even further than what we all knew. If they had no intention of continuing with this, why have they kept it? Yes it was hidden, but if your intention isn't to use it, you'd get rid of it. They kept it because they don't want to start from scratch. Also part of what was relvealed that you probably didn't get to see in those 5 minutes is how it is indeed continuing, and in their files they have written on how they need to split it up and continue it via different separate projects in order for it to not be detected(see links below).

 

I can assure you there is alot in this. Alot more than we even know yet. Not all of it has even gotten translated yet. But it proves to me that what I said just a couple of weeks ago is true - Iran is the biggest threat to world peace today and is literally following in the footsteps of Germany in all but military power(not for lack of trying, though). But yet you'll always find some dummies around still willing to believe they're perfect little angels 

 

Here is a little bit more info that I could find in English. Unfortunately it seems so far there's just not as much in English out there. I would also really recommend trying to search online what those files all contain and not just go by a 5 minute segment of a presentation...

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247833,00.html

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247429,00.html

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247648,00.html

 

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by OriZ

[bcking 3,157]

2 minutes ago, OriZ said:

For starters, this isn't about Netanyahu...I can't stand him anyways, and he's well known for liking to be theatrical and trying to stress his points in weird ways sometimes, and I didn't even watch the presentation. Lets stick to the actual evidence not whether or not we like how it was presented. I think you are really missing the point here, there is also alot more to those files than what he has shown, some of it truly is too confidential - but the US as well as countries in Europe are already going over it to verify its authenticity. Personally, I think this was an amazing achievement that exposes the regime even further than what we all knew. If they had no intention of continuing with this, why have they kept it? Yes it was hidden, but if your intention isn't to use it, you'd get rid of it. They kept it because they don't want to start from scratch. Also part of what was relvealed that you probably didn't get to see in those 5 minutes is how it is indeed continuing, and in their files they have written on how they need to split it up and continue it via different separate projects in order for it to not be detected(see links below).

 

I can assure you there is alot in this. Alot more than we even know yet. Not all of it has even gotten translated yet. But it proves to me that what I said just a couple of weeks ago is true - Iran is the biggest threat to world peace today and is literally following in the footsteps of Germany in all but military power(not for lack of trying, though). But yet you'll always find some dummies around still willing to believe they're perfect little angels 

 

Here is a little bit more info that I could find in English. Unfortunately it seems so far there's just not as much in English out there. I would also really recommend trying to search online what those files all contain and not just go by a 5 minute segment of a presentation...

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247833,00.html

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247429,00.html

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247648,00.html

 

 

1. Glad we agree on the "presentation" aspect of it - But you are right that should be a very minor thing

 

2. Perhaps they kept it because there were doubts regarding whether other members of the agreements were willing to stick to the agreement. Perhaps those doubts were valid considering we are considering ending the arrangement? 

 

3. I admit I'm not well versed in all the details of the Iran deal - Did it require them to destroy all data relating to their program, or just to stop the program? If it just asked them to stop the program, they did nothing wrong. If it required them to destroy information like this, then yes that is a problem.

 

4. If there is evidence that progress is on-going, then yes of course that also would be significant. I would like that independently verified and authenticated beyond Israel though. I would expect if that were the case that all countries who agreed to the deal would be unified in their agreement to end the deal. 

 

I'm all for ending the deal if there is proof that they have violated the arrangement, and that proof is verified and the decision to end the deal is a joint decision among ourselves and our allies. On the other hand, if there is no verifiable evidence that Iran is not following through with their side of the deal I think it would not be in our best interest to end it. We would lose significant negotiating credibility, and I believe it would make the region less safe, not more safe.

[bcking 3,157]

From your first link (https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5247833,00.html)

 

"The existence of the archive and its concealment, the official added, indicate that Iran planned to continue its military nuclear program. It preserved the material and the results of the simulations and calculations so that once the Iranians renew the nuclear program, they won't have to rely on their memory or start over, but pick up from where they left off in 2015.

The existence of the archive is a violation of the nuclear agreement, because if Iran had really been prepared to disarm, it would have handed the archive and a considerable part of its documents to the IAEA."

 

Is that actually true though? They were prepared to disarm based on terms of the agreement, as long as the agreement continued to be upheld. If someone violates or ends the agreement, their responsibility to disarm ends.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_nuclear_deal_framework#The_joint_statement

 

Granted this is only wiki but I don't see anything stating specifically that they need to destroy prior research/results. 

 

They were agreeing to halt development as long as everyone continued to agree to the deal. It seems perfectly reasonable to me for them to keep their papers in case someone else tries to break the deal. If they are continuing to uphold the deal, current events would only seem to potentially prove them right.

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by bcking

[Dashinka 24,653]

20 hours ago, bcking said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/trump-iran-typo/index.html

 

The big 1 letter difference -

 

"Iran has a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program."

 

"Iran had a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program."

 

One is old news, the other would be a big deal.

How does anyone know which one? 

[OriZ 3,157]

On 5/1/2018 at 1:19 PM, bcking said:

1. Glad we agree on the "presentation" aspect of it - But you are right that should be a very minor thing

 

2. Perhaps they kept it because there were doubts regarding whether other members of the agreements were willing to stick to the agreement. Perhaps those doubts were valid considering we are considering ending the arrangement? 

 

3. I admit I'm not well versed in all the details of the Iran deal - Did it require them to destroy all data relating to their program, or just to stop the program? If it just asked them to stop the program, they did nothing wrong. If it required them to destroy information like this, then yes that is a problem.

 

4. If there is evidence that progress is on-going, then yes of course that also would be significant. I would like that independently verified and authenticated beyond Israel though. I would expect if that were the case that all countries who agreed to the deal would be unified in their agreement to end the deal. 

 

I'm all for ending the deal if there is proof that they have violated the arrangement, and that proof is verified and the decision to end the deal is a joint decision among ourselves and our allies. On the other hand, if there is no verifiable evidence that Iran is not following through with their side of the deal I think it would not be in our best interest to end it. We would lose significant negotiating credibility, and I believe it would make the region less safe, not more safe.

By asking that question you basically said it all. Think about it - why would they want to keep it "in case the other side breaks the deal" when their claim has been all along that they never tried and have no intention of trying in the future regardless of whether or not anyone breaks any agreement(since according to them no agreement was needed to start with) to achieve nuclear weapons. And all the time claim it's all for peace. So if the agreement is with a party that claims they never tried and never want to have nuclear weapons, the agreement is to make sure that they never continue to and that they dismantle anything that might be used as such, but yet they keep papers that tell them exactly how to build nuclear weapons, then basically yet again they're exposed for their lies.

 

It's not like these were just shoved somewhere. They were placed in vaults inside the warehouse. Actually one of the reasons it took two years from the moment the mossad learned about it, till they got it out of there, is they had to practice breaking into these specific type of vaults. I guess it takes about 40 minutes for a well trained professional to break into them, you need to listen carefully to every sound and know what you are doing. This was planned for a very long time and flawlessly executed.

 

And also, you keep saying it was "already obvious" they were lying as if it was obvious to everyone. It may have been obvious to you and me, but believe me there are people, even in this forum, who not only believed them beforehand, but think even now that they can do no wrong. So I think presenting these facts was very important, in order to emphasize that if they lied before, they can easily do it now, even if there is no concrete evidence yet(there was none at the time, either). Regarding the authenticity - personally, and maybe I have a slight advantage here having actually lived there and known family/friends involved in intelligence, but I have no doubt those are real. I'm all for everyone looking at it and confirming that, though, but to me it's not even a question.

 

As far as I know they were debating whether to just leak it to the press as they have in the past, or present it to the public, and ended up choosing the latter. They also claim it will not expose the means in which they got it or endanger any operatives. So I'm all for it minus the theatrics.

 

I do have some more links I want to add to the conversation:

 

This has a bit more info https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5248904,00.html

 

Also this is good commentary imo:

 

Quote

 

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Monday failed to prove that Iran is violating the nuclear agreement that it signed with the world powers in 2015, it did prove that Iran had lied to begin with, both concerning the existence of its nuclear program and concerning its components and its activity to produce nuclear warheads to install them on missiles.
 

In other words, Iran failed to meet the conditions which served as the foundation for the negotiations that led to the agreement.

 

When Iran claimed it wasn’t building a nuclear weapon and missile warheads, but only enriching uranium and producing plutonium (fissile material), it concealed a fundamental fact from the international community and from the world powers, which turned the agreement into a misrepresentation: At that time, it was already in advanced stages of producing nuclear warheads.
 

The most important value of Netanyahu's presentation is in the publication of the amazing intelligence achievement of obtaining the huge archive and transferring it to Israel. It’s hard to assess the magnitude of the operation carried out by the Israeli intelligence, and mainly by the Mossad, which managed to get its hands on this material.

 

This achievement, which has been verified by the Americans, is a deterring strategic factor in the conflict with Iran. When another country, located more than 1,000 kilometers away, is capable of stealing its most secret archive, Iran has to feel vulnerable.

 

This fact has a negative impact on the regime’s prestige and the intimidating image of the Revolutionary Guards, which are in charge of the nuclear program, as well as of the archive. If the Revolutionary Guards are incapable of protecting the nuclear archive, which includes explosive diplomatic and legal material, they are apparently not as intimidating as they thought. That’s something Iran’s citizens learned on Monday, and it indirectly threatens the regime’s survival.
 

Netanyahu delivered the speech in English as its main goal was to “help” US President Donald Trump make a decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement, and primarily to embarrass the Europeans for letting the Iranians deceive them when they signed the agreement in 2015.

 

Netanyahu knows the Europeans would like to stick to the agreement, but they understand that reality has changed following the revelations: They have to close the breaches concerning the supervision of the agreement’s implementation and Iran’s missile program.

 

The revelation that the Iranians have already designed a nuclear warhead for a missile, and that they plan to produce five warheads, requires new and more serious supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the agreement’s implementation. While that doesn’t mean the entire agreement should be cancelled, it does require the Europeans to at least address the concerns that Iran is still secretly developing these nuclear warheads.
 

Iran’s missile program is not part of the nuclear agreement, but as it has become clear that Tehran is producing a nuclear weapon to install on missile, it has to be supervised. If Iran refuses, it will have to be put under sanctions.

 

The conclusions from the prime minister’s revelation on Monday are that the five permanent Security Council members and Germany must now demand that Iran sign another agreement limiting its missile program and allowing tighter supervision within the country. If the Iranians agree, the US won’t have to withdraw from the agreement. If the Iranians refuse, the Europeans will have to join the sanctions that the US imposes on Iran and a demand for tighter immediate supervision within military camps in Iran.

 

The Iranians will likely refuse, and the US will have no other choice but to walk away from the agreement. This will be followed by secret negotiations on amendments. Considering the Iranians’ difficult economic situation and the fact that the sanctions could lead to the regime’s collapse, after the loud and provocative declarations they will quietly look for a compromise, and the Europeans will serve as mediators as usual.

 

Netanyahu's revelations do not raise the likelihood of war in the region, but rather reduce it. Iran has been embarrassed in the international arena and won’t want to carry out additional activities that would lead to further international isolation.

 

The bottom line is that Netanyahu proved the nuclear agreement between the world powers and Iran was based on false data and a false premise concerning the most important component—the weapons program. The Iranians sold the world powers a lie, and the powers fell for it.

 

 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5248726,00.html

[OriZ 3,157]

hey at least in Israel you're allowed to make fun of the government:

 

[TBoneTX 45,661]

4 hours ago, OriZ said:

I guess it takes about 40 minutes for a well trained professional to break into them

A KGB agent, a CIA agent, and a Mossad agent were arguing about whose organization was the most efficient.

They decided to hold a contest.  They would enter a forest, and whoever came out first with a deer was the winner.

They stood at the edge of the forest.  The KGB agent entered first, and 2 hours later, he came back dragging a deer.

The CIA agent was next.  One hour later, he came back dragging a deer.

The Mossad agent went in, and in 7 minutes he came out carrying a rabbit.

"But that's not a deer -- that's a rabbit!" said the others.

"Ah, but you see," said the Mossad agent, "the rabbit confessed!"

[Ban Hammer 13,445]

meanwhile.............

[OriZ 3,157]

TEHRAN TERRIFIED, EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL SAYS

The Iranian regime is "humiliated" after a daring Mossad operation seized scores of secret documents, the former Pentagon official said.

 

he Iranian regime is “quaking in its boots,” after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed secret nuclear-program documents appropriated by the Mossad, an ex-Pentagon Iran expert told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Harold Rhode spent 28 years at the Pentagon and studied in Iran before the 1979 revolution there. The fluent Farsi speaker, who is now associated with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said his view stems from a wave of recent Iranian infighting.

He said when things are not going well in Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officials and rival ayatollahs start attacking each other in a public blame game that expresses how exposed and vulnerable they feel their rule has become.

Rhode named senior Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli from northern Iran who has been lashing out at rivals, saying their corruption was bringing down the regime.
 

Israel “humiliated the Iranian government by capturing all of this material,” Rhode said, and many Iranians were laughing at the Islamic regime on social media.

While the global media stopped covering protests against the regime months ago, he noted, the protests are still churning.

The former Pentagon official said that when he asked Iranian friends for a list of where the protests were happening, they said protests were so widespread it would be easier to make a shorter list of cities where they were not happening.

 

He also said the audacious Mossad raid, “proves what they think of Jews – that they are the smartest people on earth and can do anything.”

Rhode added a personal anecdote from when he lived in Iran decades ago. When asked about the Jews’ ability, he joked to some Iranian friends: “There was a Jewish technology of tiny little zippers between our foreheads and hairlines to send messages to conspiracy central where the... ‘Elders of Zion’ collected everything. They believed this was how things really worked.”

 

Last week, the body that likely was that of former Iranian ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi – which had been hidden by the regime since the revolution – was discovered. That, he noted, has led many Iranians, who often think superstitiously, to question whether the discovery is an omen indicating the revolution leading to the Islamic Republic was a mistake.

Rhode said the average Iranian “would like nothing more than to wake up and have this nightmare regime over with and again proudly be accepted as members of the international community.”

 

In that light, he said, it is now “the time to reassure the Iranian people that we stand with them against their brutal rulers,” and reassure the Iranian people that “after their terrorist regime is overthrown, we will gladly welcome them back into the community of nations.”

 

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Tehran-terrified-US-expert-says-553276

[OriZ 3,157]

Israel seems to be preparing for war with Iran, U.S. officials say

 

WASHINGTON — An Israeli airstrike on the western Syrian city of Hama on Sunday killed two dozen Iranian soldiers and targeted arms recently delivered from Iran, said three U.S. officials, and is the latest sign that Israel and Iran are moving closer to open warfare.

"On the list of the potentials for most likely live hostility around the world, the battle between Israel and Iran in Syria is at the top of the list right now," said one senior U.S. official.

Three U.S. officials say Israeli F-15s hit Hama after Iran delivered weapons to a base that houses Iran's 47th Brigade, including surface-to-air missiles. In addition to killing two dozen troops, including officers, the strike wounded three dozen others.

Israel is increasingly wary of Iran's influence in neighboring Syria, the three U.S. officials say. While Russia runs the air war for the Assad regime in Syria, Iran is now running the ground war, the officials said, with Iranian military present at every major Russian and Syrian regime base in the country.

In the past two weeks Iran has increased military cargo flights to Syria, stocked with additional weapons and supplies like small arms, ammunition and surface-to-air missiles that two U.S. officials believe are meant both to shore up Iranian ground forces and to strike at Israel. For years the U.S. has tracked arms shipments from Iran to Hezbollah fighters in Syria supporting the Assad regime, but recently Iran has been supplying Hezbollah with more material and logistical support.

The three U.S. officials said Israel now seems to be preparing for military action and is seeking U.S. help and support.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that "nobody" wants war, but that Iran is the aggressor and that Israel has to "take a stand."

"I think that's the way to prevent war," he said.

On Monday, Defense Secretary James Mattis said that he and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke "at some length" about Iran's presence and actions in Syria during a meeting at the Pentagon last week. He said the Israelis are concerned Iran and its proxy forces may attack.

"The Iranian forces … or the proxy forces have tried to get down closer to the Israeli border, I mean very close to it, and you've seen Israel take action over that," Mattis said.

Israel's military acknowledges it has struck inside Syria more than 100 times since 2012, with weapons convoys intended for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Three weeks ago, Israel conducted a series of predawn airstrikes on a Syrian base in Homs province, according to two U.S. officials. Israeli jets targeted Tiyas Military Base, also known as T-4 Airbase, which houses Iranian drones and personnel.

This is not the first time Israel has considered more aggressive action against Iran in Syria. During the Obama administration, the U.S. learned of growing efforts by Israel on the ground in Syria including possible involvement of Israeli personnel to counter Iran's and Hezbollah's increased activity in Syria, according to a former Obama administration official.

While Israel did not ask the U.S. for approval for more action, "some cautionary notes were sent," according to the official. Israel has now returned to a campaign of targeted strikes.

During the past week, senior Israeli military leaders have been meeting with senior U.S. counterparts, both in the region and in the U.S., looking for U.S. support for stronger action against Iran in Syria. U.S. officials say the Israeli requests include intelligence support.

Last Tuesday, Gen. Joseph Votel made his first visit to Israel since taking over as commander of U.S. Central Command in 2016. Israel, however, is part of U.S. European Command, and is not in Votel's area of responsibility. Votel met with Israel's general chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, and discussed Iran's growing influence in Syria, according to two U.S. officials. Votel went on to visit Syria, where he traveled to the Middle Euphrates River Valley to meet with U.S. troops and partners.

Before last week's meeting between Mattis and Lieberman at the Pentagon, Mattis was asked by reporters whether weapons being shipped from Iran to Syria would be used against Israel.

Mattis responded, "I can't think of any other purpose for them right now."

The U.S. military mission in Syria continues to be to defeat the Islamic State, and does not include a mission to target the Syrian regime or its proxy forces.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/israel-seems-be-preparing-war-iran-say-u-s-officials-n870051