Israel’s energy minister, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warns that escalating tensions between the US and Iran may lead the Islamic Republic to launch a missile assault against Israel.
“Things are heating up,” Yuval Steinitz tells the Ynet news site’s online television channel today.
“I wouldn’t rule out anything. Iran may fire missiles at Israel,” he says.
Steinitz, a member of the ruling Likud party, adds that Iran may also choose to attack Israel by activating its proxies, Lebanon’s Hezbollah or Gaza’s Islamic Jihad.
“The American sanctions are breaking the neck of the Iranian economy, and a new and stronger wave [of sanctions] is still to come,” he warns, suggesting the danger was unlikely to pass in the near future.
Steinitz’s comments follow a report on Israel’s Channel 13 on Friday that said Israel had warned the US that Iran was contemplating targeting Saudi oil production facilities.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv on February 27, 2019. (Flash90)
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