Israel threatening to use ‘military option’ against Iran with Trump’s help

Israel is warning a “military option” could be required to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons and is looking to U.S. President Donald Trump for help in ramping up pressure on the Islamic Republic, according to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Speaking to Politico in Brussels, Sa’ar said time was running out as Iran had enriched enough uranium for a “couple of bombs” and was “playing with ways” to weaponize its enriched nuclear material.

While Israel still wants to pursue a diplomatic path, Sa’ar added that the chances of such an approach being successful were “not huge,” and that failure to stop Iran’s nuclear program would be a “catastrophe for the security of Israel.” Failure to do so would trigger a “nuclear race in the Middle East with Egypt, Saudis, Turkey.”

Sa’ar’s comments coincide with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to “finish the job” of derailing Iran’s nuclear ambitions with Trump’s help, after the U.S. president strongly sided with Israel during his first weeks in office and raised the prospect of “clearing out” the Gaza Strip. The warning of a “military option” comes after Netanyahu followed Washington’s lead during a symbolic vote on Ukraine this week at the United Nations. “We voted with the Americans and I do believe that Russia is the aggressor,” he said. “We haven’t changed our mind, but we thought it is right to give a chance to the initiative of America to try to end this war and solve it by peaceful means.”