Israel says Iran remains greatest threat as US boosts arms sales

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran remains its greatest threat following talks with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

"The Minister of Defense and the Secretary of Defense agreed that Iran is the main threat to the region, and that close cooperation between Israel and the United States should continue with the aim of preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons," a statement from Katz's office said.

Katz thanked Hassett for the support of President Donald Trump and the administration to accelerate the delivery of weapons and security equipment to Israel.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement to say that he has signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.

"The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump," he said.

Since taking office, the Trump Administration has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel.

"This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies," he said.

Last year, Iran launched two aerial strikes on Israel amid attacks from its military allies around the region as the two enemies' shadow war came to the fore, with Israel retaliating with strikes deep into Iran.