As Gulf tensions rise, Israel's Netanyahu warns 'enemies'

With tensions rising between Israel's ally the US and its archfoe Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Jewish state's enemies not to test it Wednesday, his office said.

"I hear our neighbours from the north, south and east threatening our destruction," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office after he observed a large-scale military excercise in the north of the country.

"I say to our enemies: The Israeli army has very great destructive power. Don't test us."

Across Israel's northern borders Hezbollah -- backed by Iran -- has its power base in Lebanon and a presence in Syria, where Iran also has a presence.

To the south is the Gaza Strip, whose Islamist rulers Hamas also enjoy support from the Islamic republic.

Israeli public radio said that Netanyahu convened his security cabinet for a meeting that lasted close to four hours "in the shadow of the tension in the Persian Gulf."

The radio said that it was the second time in a week the senior ministers had met, after a session on Sunday.

Israeli news site Walla! said the ministers also discussed Iran's announcement Monday that from June 27 it would break the limit on the size of its uranium stockpile set by a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately confirm or deny that a security cabinet meeting took place on Wednesday.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have grown since the US last year unilaterally quit the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Iran.

The US has since bolstered its military presence in the Middle East and blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation.

The United States has blamed Iran for last week's attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, releasing images and a grainy video it alleges shows Iranians on a patrol boat removing an unexploded limpet mine attached to one of the tankers.

Iran strongly denies the accusations and has hinted that Washington was responsible for the attacks.

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Pompeo: US must be able to respond to any Iranian attack
Washington (AFP) June 18, 2019
The United States must have the capability to respond to any Iranian attack on US interests, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday. He spoke at the Florida headquarters of US Central Command, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, a day after the US said it was sending another 1,000 troops to the region in response to what it called hostile behavior by Tehran. That deployment should "convince the Islamic government of Iran that we are serious and to deter them from further aggression ... read more