US President Donald Trump informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in Mar-a-Lago in December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran's ballistic program if an agreement between Washington and Tehran was not reached. This was reported by CBS News, citing sources, writes UNN.
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According to sources in American military and intelligence circles, the US was focused not so much on whether Israel could act, but on how Washington could assist with strikes on Iran. Options include providing aerial refueling for Israeli jets and the delicate issue of obtaining overflight permission from countries along the potential route.
It is unclear which countries would grant overflight permission to the US for refueling Israeli jets for a potential strike. Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have publicly stated that they would not allow their airspace to be used for any strikes on Iran or Iranian strikes.
These discussions within the national security apparatus coincided with a show of force by the United States towards Tehran.
On Thursday, it became known that a second American aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and its flotilla of warships would be sent to the Middle East.