The new Iranian president, who is considered a tough conservative, forced the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi, to order to speed up preparations for a possible armed conflict with Iran.
One factor that appears to be behind these moves is that after President Ibrahim Raisi takes office in early August, he will form a new composition of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, which is expected to be completely obey his orders, said BD Uzi Rabi, an Israeli expert on Iran.
Raisi held his first official post-election press conference a day earlier, during which he stressed that Iran’s foreign relations would not be affected by decisions taken in the nuclear deal. He also confirmed that the missile program of the Islamic Republic, under no circumstances will be the subject of negotiations with world powers. At the same time, the elected head of the Iranian government (the posts of president and prime minister in Iran are combined) also rejected the possibility of his meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Ron Ben Yishai, one of Israel’s leading military analysts, believes the chances of the United States and other world powers reaching a reasonable compromise with Raisi on Iran’s nuclear program are slim, as is the case with that country’s ballistic missiles.
In a last-minute effort to persuade Washington not to return to a nuclear deal with Iran, General Aviv Kohavi met last Monday with his American counterpart, General Mark Milli, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCO), at the start of his four-day visit to Washington. The trip is aimed primarily at providing the Americans with intelligence, according to Israeli sources, proving Iran is misleading world powers over its nuclear program. Another topic that is likely to be discussed is the potential threat posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of the Iranian proxies in the region.