Army chief: Israel prepared to strike Iran nuclear targets

Chief of the General Staff, also known as Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces, Aviv Kochavi speaks at Israel’s parliament (The Knesset) in West Jerusalem [Israeli Parliament Knesset – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, said yesterday that his forces had improved their readiness to strike Iranian nuclear targets.

Speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, Kochavi said: “The level of preparedness for an operation in Iran has dramatically improved.”

“If the army is ordered to act against the Iranian nuclear program, it will accomplish the mission assigned to it,” he added.

On the other hand, Kochavi explained that the Iranian vision of establishing a second Hezbollah in Syria has faltered, adding that the Iranians wanted to deploy hundreds of surface-to-surface missiles in Syria, along with tens of thousands of Shia militiamen.

He noted that Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi was scheduled to visit Syria yesterday, adding that if he does visit Syria, he will see that there are fewer weapons, fewer bases and fewer forces.

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