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TEHRAN \u2013 Recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that Tehran is preparing to attack U.S. soil has alarmed American citizens \u2014 though probably not for the reasons the Israeli leader had hoped for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netanyahu told a well-known American Zionist during an interview published Monday that Iran can \u201cblackmail\u201d any American city. \u201cIran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles for 8,000 km range,\u201d he told Ben Shapiro. \u201cAdd another 3,000 km and they\u2019ve got New York City, Washington, Boston, Miami \u2014 even Mar-a-Lago \u2014 under their atomic guns. That\u2019s a really big danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shapiro was one of the conservative influencers who fully backed Israel\u2019s 12-day war against Iran in June. Sources told the Tehran Times that Israel relied on American intelligence and assets from day one. Netanyahu eventually persuaded Washington to directly intervene and strike Iranian nuclear sites in the final days of the war in an effort to bail Israel out of the devastation wrought in the occupied territories by Iranian missile salvos, sources add.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s backing of Israel\u2019s war against Iran, however, was harshly criticized by many influential republican figures and strategists. Steve Bannon, the former Trump chief strategist who now hosts the MAGA podcast\u00a0War Room, was at the forefront of\u00a0a growing rift within the MAGA coalition\u00a0over Washington\u2019s involvement in the war. Netanyahu\u2019s recent remarks also drew a reaction from him. \u201cThey (Israelis) trumped up bull-face lies about the Persians,\u201d he said in a recent episode of his podcast. \u201cThey don\u2019t care if they suck the United States into a 20 or 30-year war.\u201d Bannon added that if Israel wants to go to war with Iran, it should do it on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
American citizens who reacted to Netanyahu\u2019s recent interview on social media were of the same mind as Bannon. Many shared videos of Netanyahu\u2019s 2002 testimony to the U.S. Congress, in which he told lawmakers that an invasion of Iraq would have \u201cenormous positive reverberations in the region.\u201d He also said that if Washington toppled Saddam, it would pave the way for a future overthrow of the Iranian government.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many more times are we going to get fooled by Netanyahu,\u201d asked one U.S. citizen on X. \u201cHe made us go to war with Iraq for weapons of mass destruction that didn\u2019t exist. America lost thousands of its soldiers and $2 trillion to make this killer happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his remarks to Shapiro, Netanyahu offered no evidence that Iran is increasing the range of its missiles or planning to attack U.S. cities. Nor did he present evidence when he defended Israel\u2019s strikes on the country back in June, claiming they were carried out to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which he said it was very \u201cclose\u201d to producing. The Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, recently stated there was never any evidence Tehran intended to build nuclear weapons, and that his reports have never suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n
As Netanyahu\u2019s interview continues to draw backlash, it appears that American jitters have not really extended to Iran. An analyst of American affairs told the Tehran Times that Iranians never believed the war with Israel and the U.S. ended after the ceasefire on June 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in Iran the consensus is that another war is very likely. The lies Netanyahu comes up with to justify a new confrontation do not really matter,\u201d said Amir-Ali Abolfath, adding that the goals Israel and the U.S. set for themselves were not achieved during the 12-day war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The expert identified three main goals: dismantling Iran\u2019s nuclear and missile programs, creating public unrest, and forcing Iran to abandon its support for Resistance groups. \u201cGiven Washington\u2019s current domestic challenges and its feuds with Russia and China, a second attack on Iran does not seem logical now, but it certainly did not the first time either,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhether Americans wrongly believe they can achieve their goals this time or find themselves unable to resist pressure from Israel, a new attack on Iran remains very likely, even if it serves no U.S. interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n