101-year-old cleric missed Khamenei funeral prayer

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday the military was “alert and prepared for the resumption of the campaign” in Iran and ready to carry out “blue-and-white” (independent Israeli) strikes there “even for a third time.”

“If we need to return, we will return with even greater force,” Katz said.

Katz said the military was prepared to “regain air superiority” in Iran and carry out strikes to remove threats.

Katz said he had warned former supreme leader Ali Khamenei that Israel’s “long arm” would reach Iran if it tried to harm Israel.

“Exactly a year ago, I sent a direct message to the dictator Ali Khamenei and the group of ayatollahs in Iran, that Israel’s long arm will catch up with them in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and wherever if they try to harm Israel,” Katz said.

“About four months ago, we returned to operating in the skies of Iran; we eliminated many of the regime’s seniors, and in the historic opening blow of Operation Roaring Lion, we eliminated Ali Khamenei and severely wounded his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran would not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons “with or without a deal.”

“The skies of the Middle East have seen unprecedented activity over the past year — and in particular the two successful operations we launched against Iran. If we had not acted, Iran would have armed itself with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.

“The Iranian terrorist regime has suffered a very severe blow — and our policy is clear: with or without a deal — Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” he added.

Netanyahu said Israel’s military was prepared for any scenario and that preserving air superiority was a fundamental pillar of national security.

“We are promoting a policy of weapons independence, and equipping the pilots with the most tools,” he said.

Netanyahu also pointed to operations carried out with the United States against Iran, saying they had averted “a threat of immediate annihilation, and also a danger to the entire Western world.”

“Our pilots carried out thousands of sorties and attacks. They landed a powerful opening blow on Iran,” he added.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council in separate statements on Thursday condemned Iran’s attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan and warned against threats to regional security and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the attacks violated the sovereignty of “brotherly countries” and called for an immediate halt to all Iranian attacks on countries in the region.

In a separate statement, the GCC called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open, rejected any unilateral arrangements and urged guarantees for freedom of navigation without tolls or passage fees.

The council said Iran bore full responsibility for the attacks and that any attack on one GCC member state was a direct attack on all.

The US Army has completed its investigation into the deadly Iranian attack on US forces in Kuwait earlier this year, and Gold Star families are expected to be briefed Thursday on its findings, CBS News reported, citing sources.

Six Americans were killed in the March 1 strike on a tactical operations center at the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait, one of several US-allied countries in the Persian Gulf region hit by intense Iranian missile and drone attacks after the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, starting the war with Iran.

The strike was the deadliest attack on US troops in the Iran war to date.

US Army Central and Third Army ordered the Pentagon probe “to determine the facts and circumstances” of the Iranian attack, the report said.

Iranian oil tankers are rushing out of the Strait of Hormuz after two days of intensifying attacks in the Persian Gulf and President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose a US-led naval blockade, CNN reported on Thursday.

Iran shipped out 10 million barrels of crude and fuel overnight, the report said, citing maritime shipping tracker TankerTrackers.

The increase marks a significant ramp-up after Iran exported a total of 60 million barrels of oil over the past three weeks, the report added, citing Windward Intelligence.