On Wednesday evening, the Israeli and American armies concluded military maneuvers simulating an “attack on Iranian nuclear facilities,” according to the official Hebrew channel, Kan.
The channel said, “Israel and the United States conducted an exercise to simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, in cooperation with the (Israeli) Military Intelligence Division.”
She explained that the goal is “to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-capable state.”
For his part, the Israeli army spokesman for the Arab media, Avichai Adraei, said in a statement posted on his Twitter account: “A series of joint maneuvers for the Israeli and American armies concluded, which simulated different scenarios in dealing with emerging threats in the region.”
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He added, “The maneuvers began in a joint planning process, so that yesterday (Tuesday) four Adair (F-35i) aircraft accompanied four American fighters (F-15) in the skies of the country.”
As part of the exercise, the Israeli and American air forces conducted, on Wednesday, an air refueling exercise, using a giant American KC-10 refueling plane, which refueled several Sufa F-16 fighters, according to the same channel.
Adraee added, “In addition, the (Israeli) Air Force rehearsed a long-term operational plan.”
In the context, the Israeli Military Intelligence (Aman) conducted “a large-scale exercise that simulated a battle against countries in the third threat circle.”
The Israeli army classifies the threats it faces into circles, the first includes border countries and regions such as Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, while the second includes countries including Yemen and Iraq, and the third and farthest threat circle includes Iran, according to a previous report by the Hebrew newspaper “Maariv”.
According to Adraei, “the capabilities of collecting and analyzing information, crystallizing goals, and enabling access to intelligence information for the operational forces were tested.”
A spokesman for the Israeli army said: “These maneuvers constitute an essential part of the growing strategic cooperation between the two armies in facing common challenges in the Middle East, especially Iran.”
In recent years, Israel has conducted a number of maneuvers to simulate a military strike on Iran.
Israel accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity.
