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Israeli defense minister: ‘Now is the time to act on Iran’

If Tehran reaches the nuclear threshold, it will become even more dangerous to world peace, says Benny Gantz.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 20, 2022. Source: Benny Gantz/Twitter.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 20, 2022. Source: Benny Gantz/Twitter.

Israel’s defense minister said on Monday that the time to act on Iran was now, before the ayatollahs’ regime was protected by a “nuclear canopy.”

“The world must mobilize to stop Iranian aggression,” said Benny Gantz in a post on social media, a day after Israel announced that the Israel Defense Forces had intercepted Iranian drones en route from Iran to Gaza last year.

Whether or not a new nuclear agreement is signed in Vienna between Iran and world powers, said Gantz, “it will not be the end of the road for us—nor should it be for the countries of the region and the world, which must continue to act against Iranian aggression.”

The State of Israel and its defense establishment would take all necessary measures, “political, economic and if needed, also military,” in order to defend our sovereignty and ensure the security of the citizens of Israel.”

Iran’s aggression, said Gantz, “whether it emanates from Iranian territory or through Iranian proxies, is a threat to global peace and to regional stability, as well as a threat to the State of Israel.”

It is now, while a nuclear agreement is being negotiated in Vienna, he continued, that we must remember: “If Iran reaches the nuclear threshold, it will become even more dangerous to world peace. Now is the time for the world to mobilize to stop it. As I have said in the past, the State of Israel will take all the measures necessary to prevent Iran from becoming an existential threat.”

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