At a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was monitoring Iran’s recent “military exercises” but gave no further details, Reuters reports.
Earlier today, Iran announced through the state media that missile exercises were held in several cities, which is the second recorded military exercise in the last month. Western countries believe that Iran’s missile arsenal is a threat to the stability of the Middle East and a potential means of transferring nuclear weapons if Tehran decides to develop atomic bombs. Iran rejects the accusations and says it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
Strengthening Middle Eastern alliances
Relations between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean have strengthened significantly over the past ten years, particularly due to shared security concerns related to Turkey’s influence in the region. Netanyahu stressed that Israel is not seeking conflict with Iran, but rather stability, progress and peace, despite what he said were “significant achievements” during the 12-day standoff with Iran in June.
Among the main topics of the conversation with Trump will be the next stages of Trump’s plan for Gaza, as well as the issue of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has ties to Iran. “Of course that will also be part of the conversation,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel wants a stable and sovereign Lebanon, as well as preventing disruption of international maritime traffic by Yemen’s Houthis, who are also linked to Iran.
Security and energy cooperation
Netanyahu, Mitsotakis and Christodoulides agreed to deepen security cooperation. The Israeli Prime Minister also announced the initiative to connect India with Europe via the Middle East, by sea and by rail. Cypriot President Christodoulides described the projects as a “southeast passage connecting Europe with the Middle East and the wider region”.
The three countries are also planning the implementation of a submarine energy cable project that would connect their power grids with Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis pointed out that Greece is becoming an important energy hub for liquid natural gas, and that regional energy interconnections are one of the main priorities.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said after the conference that the trilateral meeting is of particular importance because, as he stated, there are “countries that are actively working to disrupt regional stability”, without specifying which countries.
(Vijesti.ba)
