Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Shahritz hinted Monday at using the military option to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
In a written statement, he said, "Whether an agreement was signed or not, this would not be the end of the road for us. Nor should the countries of the region and the world, which should continue to act against the Iranian aggression."
He added that Israel and its defensive forces would take all necessary measures, political and economic, and, if necessary, military in order to defend the West Bank and ensure its security.
The statement of Gates comes at a time when the parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement say that they are close to reaching an agreement for the establishment of the nuclear agreement after months of talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna.
= = History = = The year 2015 was signed by Iran with the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany, and it imposed restrictions on Tehran's program to prevent the production of nuclear weapons, in return for the lifting of international sanctions against it; but the administration of former American President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018.
In his statement, the Israeli army said that it had intercepted two Iranian drones on their way to the Palestinian territories.
"In coordination with its partners in the region, Israel objected to an attempt to transport drones carrying weapons from Iran to Gaza Strip."
Neither Gates nor the Israeli army revealed the partners in the region who had helped to bring down Iranian drones.
In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli army announced that about a year ago two Iranian aircrafts were on their way to Israel.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization announced on Saturday that an agreement had been reached with the International Atomic Energy Agency to resolve issues related to the nuclear programme, as part of the efforts to conclude the 2015 agreement.