The United States and Israel have agreed that “operational plans against Iran” must be accelerated as the country continues to advance its nuclear program.
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), met with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and other senior Washington officials at the Pentagon on Monday.
In a statement on Twitter, the IDF said that Kohavi had discussed with officials “further strengthening the cooperation between our militaries and mutual regional threats, primarily the Iranian nuclear threat.”
“On the one hand, Iran is under many economic, military, and internal pressures, and on the other hand, it continues to promote its nuclear program. The IDF strongly promotes all operational plans against the Iranian threat,” Kohavi said during the meeting.
Elsewhere during the discussions, “it was agreed that we are at a critical point in time that requires the acceleration of operational plans and cooperation against Iran and its terrorist proxies in the region,” the statement added.
A separate statement posted to the IDF website, says the two officials discussed “regional security issues, opportunities for greater bilateral cooperation and coordination to defend against a wide range of threats posed by Iran across the region and other items of mutual strategic interest.”
Possible Joint Air Force Drill
Kohavi and Milley are reportedly weighing up conducting a joint air force drill in the coming weeks, aimed at training soldiers for a potential conflict between Israel and Iran or Iran’s military proxies in the region, Fox News reported.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s office for comment.
Kohavi also met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan this week where the two discussed taking steps to deescalate the security situation in the West Bank and Washington’s desire to achieve a two-state solution that it said “remains the best avenue to achieve a lasting peace.”
