Israeli media said that Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the army to prepare for a military option against Iran, while Tehran warned Israel of paying a "high price."
And Israeli newspapers - including Yedioth Ahronoth - quoted the defense minister as saying that he told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during his meeting with them on Thursday in Washington that he had instructed the Israeli army to prepare for an attack on Iran.
The newspaper pointed out that Israel still views the military solution as the last option, in the event of the failure of diplomatic contacts, and quoted a senior Israeli official that there is no American opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran.
Gantz said that the United States and European countries understand very well what is going on, and have begun to lose patience with the nuclear negotiations in Vienna.
In this context, an Israeli diplomatic source told the Israeli newspaper, The Jerusalem Post, that the Americans did not express their opposition to Israeli preparations for an attack against Iran when Gantz informed them.
The source - whom the newspaper did not name - added that there was no veto.
The Israeli government is conducting extensive contacts and consultations with the United States of America regarding the Iranian nuclear file.
International negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program resumed last November in Vienna, but Israel is trying to pressure the international community not to make concessions to Iran.
Iranian warning
On the other hand, official Iranian media reported that a senior Iranian military official vowed today, Saturday, "the aggressors" to pay a "heavy price", after publishing a report on US-Israeli plans to conduct possible military exercises in preparation for strikes on Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails.
And Noor News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's highest security apparatus, stated - in a tweet on Twitter - quoting an unnamed military official that "allowing the military leaders to test Iranian missiles with real targets will cost the aggressors a heavy price."
Earlier today, two prominent Iranian officials warned that any Tel Aviv attack on Iranian facilities would mean the end of Israel, and stressed that Tehran was fully prepared to destroy Israel.
Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said that Israel does not dare to implement its threats, and that they are fully prepared to settle it on the ground if it launches any aggression against his country.
A senior US official told Reuters the day before yesterday that the US and Israeli defense leaders are expected to discuss possible military exercises in preparation for the scenario of destroying Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails and if the two countries' leaders request it.
But the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) declined to comment on the Reuters report, which also revealed a statement provided by department officials on October 25 to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about the totality of military options available to ensure that Iran could not build a nuclear weapon.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters he did not want to "talk about contingency planning" if diplomacy was not feasible in the short term.