Israel and Saudi Arabia delivered twin warnings to Iran, telling a global security conference it was time to confront the Islamic republic’s encroachment on the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evoked the West’s appeasement of Nazi Germany before World War II in a speech at Munich that described Iranian aggression as “the greatest threat to our world” – and warned that Israel would resist it. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir, addressing the event later on Sunday (Monday AEDT), said Iran needs to pay a price for its “aggressive behaviour”.
Faced with a war in Syria that has destabilised the region, redrawn its threat map and escalated the risk of a wider war, Israel and Saudi Arabia, which have no diplomatic relations, are finding a common enemy in Iran. Last week, Israel lost a combat aircraft to hostile fire as it returned from air strikes in Syria, an incident that reportedly began with an Iranian military drone entering Israeli territory.
Netanyahu interrupted his speech to hold up a piece of metal he said came from the drone and asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif recognised it. Iran denies it sent the drone into Israel.
“Take back with you a message for the tyrants of Tehran: ‘Do not test Israel’s resolve’,” Netanyahu said. “Israel will act not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us, but against Iran itself.”
Read the full article written by Marc Champion, Jonathan Ferziger and David Wainer at the Australian Financial Review.