US and Israel war aims in Iran are not the same, US spy chief says

Israel is focused on disabling Iran's leadership and US President Donald Trump is focused on Iran's ballistic missile programme. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON - American and Israeli objectives for the war on Iran are not the same, US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on March 19, with Israel focused on disabling Iran’s leadership and US President Donald Trump focused on destroying Iran’s ballistic missile programme and navy.

“The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government,” Ms Gabbard told the House intelligence committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats to the United States.

“We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy,” she said.

The US and Israel have repeatedly sought to highlight their close coordination in their joint air assault on Iran, but officials on both sides have acknowledged that their objectives were not the same.

As the conflict neared the three-week mark, Israel has led strikes that have killed Iranian clerics and military leaders, while the US has been focused on striking sites related to the country’s missile programme.

The Republican president’s administration has given conflicting messages about the state of Iran’s nuclear programme. In the run-up to the war, some top administration officials said Iran was weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, although others - including the president - claimed that another US-Israeli campaign last summer had destroyed its weapons programme.