US, Israel War Games Underscore Warnings to Iran on Nuclear Enrichment
This week’s Juniper Oak exercise follows reports that the Biden administration has sought to commit Tehran to an informal arrangement limiting its nuclear enrichment outside of the JCPOA. The United States and Israel on Sunday kicked off the second iteration of a new series of war games designed to enable the Israeli air force to partake in long-range strikes on strategic targets hundreds of miles away from the country’s own airspace.
The latest Juniper Oak exercise began in Israel on Sunday with the participation of US F-16s, a KC-10 and a KC-46 tanker aircraft to support mid-air refuelling, according to the Pentagon’s Middle East regional command headquarters.“ The exercise will incorporate a number of scenarios, including long-range strategic striking, the achievement of aerial superiority in the region and cyber defence in the face of a variety of threats,” the Israeli military said in a press release on Monday.
The five-day event will include “bilateral cyber incident response” and “agile combat employment (offensive air [exercises]) within Israel,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a separate press release. Juniper Oak “demonstrates the US commitment to Israel’s defence and enhances military readiness of the two partners,” CENTCOM said
The Pentagon and the Israel Defense Forces’ announcements do not specifically mention Iran, but the second iteration of these joint US-Israeli war games within six months suggests the Biden administration is seeking to underscore its warnings to Tehran against further nuclear enrichment.
Iran accelerated its uranium enrichment after the Trump administration abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord in 2018, and the Biden administration’s efforts to return to the deal have thus far come up short.
Israel’s air force is widely believed to lack the munitions and aircraft required to carry out long-range strikes that would sufficiently damage Iran’s underground nuclear facilities to set back its nuclear program. Such an operation would also require significant air-to-ground and air-to-air combat against Iranian pilots and air defences to achieve superiority over Iranian skies before even reaching the targets, former senior US officials familiar with the planning have told Al-Monitor.
Israeli officials have petitioned US counterparts over multiple administrations to help them build their own military capability to mount such an operation, but bureaucratic hurdles — such as Israel’s erstwhile inclusion under US European Command’s area of responsibility — and concerns in Washington about the outcome of unilateral Israeli strikes have inhibited cooperation.
Israel was incorporated into CENTCOM’s geographic area of responsibility in 2021 amid the Trump administration’s efforts to push Arab states to normalize ties with Israel. In January, the IDF and CENTCOM kicked off the first iteration of Juniper Oak. It was the largest combined military exercise ever held by the two countries and focused on long-range strikes on strategic targets by US B-52 bombers escorted by fighter jets from both countries launched from a US aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea.
“These exercises test our forces’ interoperability in multiple domains to bolster the kinds of firm partnership we will lean on in times of crisis,” US CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said Monday. Sending a signal. The second iteration of Juniper Oak follows reports that the Biden administration has reached out to Iranian officials to negotiate a lesser, informal deal in lieu of a mutual return to the 2015 JCPOA.
