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Report: Washington Deploys Second THAAD System To Israel

Above photo: US air force/AP.

As US-Iran Tensions Grow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to arrive in Washington, where he will discuss the ‘Iranian threat’ with President Donald Trump.

The US has transferred a second Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) to Israel, Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath reported on 6 April, coming as there have been increasing threats by Washington to attack Iran.

The report said the THAAD system arrived in Israel on Saturday.

According to flight tracking websites, a US C-5M Super Galaxy transport plane landed at the Nevatim airbase in the Negev, one of the sites targeted by Iran in both of its ballistic missile attacks against Israel last year.

The first THAAD system was sent to Israel late last year, along with US troops to operate it.

Reports of the new deployment come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to arrive in Washington on 6 April for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Trump and Netanyahu will discuss “efforts to reach a hostage deal, Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat, and confronting the International Criminal Court,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement.

This marks Netanyahu’s fourth trip to Washington since October 2023 and his second since Trump took office in January.

Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran. The US president has been pressuring Tehran into accepting nuclear negotiations under the threat of an attack and continued economic pressure.

“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. But there’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago,” the president said last Sunday. Iran issued a formal complaint to the UN Security Council and said it would respond to any threat.

Trump had sent a letter to Iranian leadership in early March, threatening an attack if Tehran did not come to the negotiating table.

Iranian officials said they would not negotiate under threats and economic sanctions. However, Tehran’s recent response to Trump’s letter signaled its openness to indirect negotiations mediated by Oman.

“We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations. Iran keeps itself prepared for all possible or probable events, and just as it is serious in diplomacy and negotiations, it will also be decisive and serious in defending its national interests and sovereignty,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on 6 April.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Saturday that Tel Aviv hopes to ensure that any negotiations or potential agreement between Tehran and Washington prioritize Israeli interests. Otherwise, Israel would need to coordinate with the US on any possible attack against Iran and its nuclear facilities.

Responding to recent US threats, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, said Iran is “ready for both psychological warfare and military action by the enemies.”

“We are not worried at all. We will not start a war, but we are ready for it,” he added.

Washington has been beefing up its presence in the region in recent weeks. The US military has carried out its largest offensive deployment to West Asia since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon in October 2023, Haaretz reported on 2 April.