Israel’s Kan TV revealed on Thursday that one of the countries in the region refused to allow Tel Aviv to use its airspace during the attacks it carried out last Monday on Iran.
The channel, which is part of the official broadcasting authority, said that “one of the countries in the region (which it did not name) refused to allow Israel to use its airspace during the attacks carried out by the Israeli Air Force this week against targets inside Iran.”
She added: “This stance has raised eyebrows in Israeli circles, which had expected the level of coordination that characterized previous rounds of tension to continue.”
The channel quoted an informed source in Israel as saying that “the decision to ban the use of the airspace was taken at a high political level in that country, which was considered in Israel to be a political message reflecting a shift in position compared to what the region witnessed during previous confrontations with Iran.”
On Sunday and Monday, the region witnessed a new round of escalation between Iran and Israel, following the latter's bombing of the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Despite Iran’s warning, Tel Aviv ignited the region by launching an attack on the suburbs, and Tehran responded with waves of missiles at Israel, while Tel Aviv announced that its fighter jets had bombed military targets in western and central Iran.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump called on Israel and Iran to immediately cease hostilities, warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against escalating the attack on Iran.
On Monday, Tehran announced a halt to military operations “after a painful response was delivered to the enemy,” followed by a similar announcement by Netanyahu after a phone call he had with Trump.
Washington blocks Israeli intervention
On the other hand, Kan TV quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the United States had informed Israel of the need to “refrain from interfering in any possible military operations against Iran,” stressing that any such move “will be decided and implemented exclusively by the Americans.”
The channel reported that “the US administration conveyed a firm message to Israel stating that any attacks targeting Iran would be carried out by US forces alone.”
The Israeli official claimed that “the United States still sees the diplomatic path as the preferred option, and believes that increasing military pressure may push Iran to make concessions regarding its nuclear program.”
He added that “Washington is simultaneously seeking to prevent the confrontation from spreading to other countries in the Middle East.”
According to Kan, the Israeli security establishment is closely monitoring developments and preparing for a range of possible scenarios, including the possibility of a shift in the American position that would allow Israel to participate in future military operations against Iranian targets if changes occur in the political or field landscape.
On Thursday evening, Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv was surprised by US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he had cancelled planned strikes against Iran that night, and his indication that a regional agreement was close to being reached, while Israeli sources denied that Tel Aviv knew of the existence of such an agreement.
Later, the Israeli Prime Minister's office announced that Netanyahu had a telephone conversation with Trump, during which the two sides discussed the memorandum of understanding being formulated with Iran in preparation for entering into negotiations.
During the call, Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for what he described as Trump's "commitment that any final agreement with Iran, at the end of negotiations, will include the removal of enriched materials from Iran and the dismantling of the infrastructure for uranium enrichment."
He noted that Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding being prepared between the United States and Iran, without providing further details about the content of the talks or the course of the anticipated negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
On Thursday evening, Trump announced the cancellation of planned attacks against Iran that night, claiming that the proposed understandings had the approval of several parties, including Israel, and that the date and place of the official signing would be announced later.
Trump said: “Based on discussions with Iran, I reached the highest levels of the Iranian leadership and received their approval, so I have decided to cancel the planned strikes and bombing operations against Iran this evening.”
This came hours after Trump renewed his threat for the second time that the United States would launch “wider and more violent” attacks on Iran that night.
