Israel ‘on high alert’ for possible US action on Iran

Israel is on high alert for any possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran as authorities in Iran face the largest anti-government protests in years, according to three Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened intervention in recent days and warned Iran’s rulers not to use force against demonstrators.

On Saturday, Trump said the United States was “ready to help.”

Sources who attended Israel’s “security consultations” over the weekend did not elaborate on what Israel’s high alert status means in practice.

Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June, and the United States joined Israel in airstrikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran in a phone call on Saturday, according to an Israeli source who attended the call.

A US official confirmed that the two men spoke but did not say what topics they discussed.

Israel has not signaled a desire to intervene in Iran at a time when protests have gripped the country as tensions between the two arch-enemies are high over concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In an interview published in the Economist on Friday, Netanyahu said there would be dire consequences if Iran attacked Israel.

Referring to the protests, he said: “With everything else, I think we need to see what’s going on in Iran.”