Israel may no longer need a green light from Washington to launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. According to a report in London's Sunday Times, Saudi Arabia has agreed to let Israeli aircraft circumvent US-controlled airspace in Iraq by flying over the oil-rich kingdom.
The report claimed that the head of the Israeli Mossad, Meir Dagan, met with top Saudi officials last week and secured tacit approval for an Israeli overflight. The source that leaked the information said the Saudis recognized that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms was for them, too, a top national security interest.
An Israeli government official interviewed by Army Radio later in the day complained that if such an agreement did exist, clearly whoever leaked it to the media did not want Israel to be able to use Saudi airspace, since the publication of the deal would cause the Saudis to publicly deny any cooperation with the Jewish state.
In related news, a diplomatic source in New York told Ha'aretz at the weekend that the Obama Administration is working hard behind the scenes to prevent the enactment of additional economic sanctions against Iran at the G8 summit next week.
The official said Washington believes harsher sanctions will only backfire, and prefers to continue easing pressure on the Islamic Republic.