Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets escorted an American B-1 bomber that flew over Israeli territory on its way to the Persian Gulf, the IDF said in a tweet on Saturday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"The joint flight illustrates the continued strategic cooperation of the IDF with the United States in the area," the tweet said.
The joint mission came as Israeli and US officials are mulling military action against Iran's nuclear program, as negotiations regarding a US return to the 2015 nuclear deal appear to possibly be moving forward.
Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets escorted an American B-1B bomber over Israeli skies towards the Gulf earlier today.
The joint flight illustrates the continued strategic cooperation of the IDF with the United States in the area. pic.twitter.com/bD38bLt9dK
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 30, 2021
US President Joe Biden said Saturday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume even as he and European leaders warned Tehran that "accelerated" and "provocative nuclear steps" it has taken will jeopardize its return to compliance under a 2015 nuclear agreement.
Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain met as Iran continues to enrich uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. The leaders are trying to revive the 2015 deal and restore Iran's program to where it was under the pact, which kept the Islamic republic at least one year away from the potential to field a nuclear weapon.
"This will only be possible if Iran changes course," Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, ahead of Biden's trip to Rome, the US on Friday hit Iran with a fresh set of sanctions.
The Treasury Department announced the new penalties against two senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen and to Ethiopia, which has been fighting rival Tigray forces for almost a year.
Although the sanctions are unrelated to Iran's atomic program, the Biden administration has said it wants to build on a potential agreement to revive the languishing 2015 nuclear deal to include Iranian support for such groups and curtail its ballistic missile development.
Friday's sanctions block any assets that those targeted may have in US jurisdictions, bar Americans from transactions with them and, perhaps more importantly, also subject foreign people and firms that do business with them to potential penalties.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
The two targeted Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, Brig. Gen. Saeed Aghajani and Brig. Gen. Abdollah Mehrabi, oversee the Guard's drone activities, including support for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAV, attacks by proxies on commercial vessels, Saudi oil facilities and US and allied interests throughout the Middle East, according to the US Treasury.
"Iran's proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability. Iran and its proxy militants have used UAVs to attack US forces, our partners, and international shipping," the Treasury said in a statement. "Treasury will continue to hold Iran accountable for its irresponsible and violent acts."
The two firms, the Kimia Part Sivan Co. and the Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Co., along with the latter's managing director, were sanctioned for supplying engines and technical assistance to the drone programs, the US Treasury said.
