US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself from threats from Iran.
“Spoke with Israeli PM Netanyahu today regarding recent Israeli airstrikes in Syria. I expressed my support for Israel’s right to defend itself from threats posed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps & to take action to prevent imminent attacks against Israeli assets,” tweeted Pompeo.
“We discussed how Iran is leveraging its foothold in Syria to threaten Israel and its neighbors. The Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that Israel would strike IRGC targets threatening Israel, wherever they are located,” he added.
Israel on Saturday night thwarted a planned Iranian drone attack on northern Israel, planned by the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its head, Qassem Soleimani.
At least five people were killed, including Hezbollah terrorists and at least one Iranian official, the London-based Syrian Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group.
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said earlier on Sunday that Israel held Soleimani personally responsible for the planned attack on northern Israel over the weekend, adding that the attack would have included multiple unmanned warplanes against multiple targets in Israel.
Soleimani, for his part, threatened Israel on Twitter on Sunday in response to the thwarting of the Iranian drone attack.
“These insane operations will surely be the last steps of the Zionist regime,” he wrote.