In a chilling warning mainly aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, December 17, his defense team was working on a weapons system with “special capabilities that no other country has” and it is able to “reach anywhere in the region”.
Speaking at the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) near Tel Aviv and standing next to a display of weapons that he had just inspected, Netanyahu maintained, "This is an offensive force that belongs to the State of Israel and is relevant for all of our different fronts."
Netanyahu, who is also Israel's defense minister following the November 14 resignation of Avigdor Lieberman, went further, saying, "There is a group of minds and people here who develop the best of the defenses needed for the State of Israel. This includes micro-satellites that are fired into space and some missiles that you see here behind me. Space is a huge field that the State of Israel is entering."
Reaponding to Netanyahu's comments, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the Israeli PM of "whining about Iran's deterrent and defensive missiles."
Writing on his Twitter account on Tuesday, December 18, Zarif asserted, "He (Netanyahu) openly boasts about his OFFENSIVE missiles that can reach anywhere and he still whines about Iran's Deterrent and DEFENSIVE missiles, and the West parrots his concerns".
Zarif's comment echoed his earlier tweet, deploring Netanyahu for threatening Tehran.
Last August in another tweet, Zarif had lambasted Netanyahu's speech about Iran's nuclear capability, branding him as "shameless" for effectively threatening the Islamic Republic with destruction while standing at the heart of "Israel's secretive nuclear facility".
Speaking at IAI on Monday, Netanyahu praised Israeli scientists, saying, "IAI knows how to get anywhere it decides and anywhere we need for the good of the country. The sky is not the limit."
Netanyahu's remarks came a day after he said without elaboration that Israel infiltrates Iran periodically for intelligence-gathering purposes.