Iran’s military leaders have publicly warned of their determination to wipe Israel off the “global political map”.
Seen as a significant intervention, Mr Herzog’s call for the UK to stand side-by-side with Israel as an ally comes ahead of the resumption of talks with Iran at the end of the month in Vienna that will include Britain, the US, France, Germany, Russia and China.
Negotiators are hoping to revive a modified form of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agreed in 2015.
The US pulled out of the deal under President Trump in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, after which Iran openly abandoned the agreement. In recent months, under new hardline president Ebrahim Raisi — dubbed “the butcher of Tehran” for ordering thousands of executions in the Eighties —the Iranian nuclear programme has been ramped up and is believed to have created enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb, though intelligence analysts believe the construction of a usable device will take up to a year longer. Israel and its Gulf allies fear the revival of a deal, warning that Iran is not to be trusted.
The Biden administration in the US wants to pursue the diplomatic route, although it has said it will pursue “other options” should talks fail.
Last month, Britain’s Foreign Office minister James Cleverly warned Iran’s nuclear programme was “more advanced and worrying than it has perhaps ever been”. Just days ago, he urged his Iranian counterpart to take up the opportunity of the talks.
Also this week, the first-ever joint naval exercise between Israel and Gulf Arab states has been taking place in the Red Sea.
Starting last Wednesday, warships of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain lined up alongside those of the US and Israeli navies.
It followed the signing of the historic Abraham Accords last year that normalised relations between the Gulf states and Israel, amid shared mounting concern over the threat from Iran.
The five-day drill was in part focused on “ensuring freedom of navigation” in the Gulf, coming after a number of incidents of alleged Iranian aggression, including a drone attack in July that killed two crew members on a vessel operated by an Israeli-owned company. Iran denied responsibility despite the accusations of Israel, the US and the UK.
