Brian Hook, US special representative for Iran, in Washington, US, November 29, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Al Drago.

JNS.org – An Israeli representative was present at a briefing Sunday morning by US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, who provided information on the US naval-defense operation, dubbed “Operation Sentinel,” being undertaken in response to recent Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz, Arutz 7 reported.

“American representatives are working with elements from the Middle East, Europe and Asia to formulate the details” of the plan, US Central Command said in a statement.

According to the statement, “Operation Sentinel” is a “multinational maritime effort” aiming to protect ships in the vulnerable waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Omar. It is still not clear which countries will join the effort.

In an interview with Israel’s Kan Bet radio, Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) spoke of the possibility of a confrontation between Israel and Iran over the reaction of the United States and Britain to Tehran’s recent actions in the Persian Gulf, including the seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker on Friday.

Hanegbi said that over the past two years, Israel had “beaten the Iranians hundreds of times in Syria. Sometimes we admit it, and sometimes foreign publications expose it.”

He added that if “the Iranians are very limited in their responses, it’s not because they do not have capabilities, it’s because we are very firm about our national security.”

“The Iranians have not retreated from the plans to establish themselves in Syria,” said Hanegbi, “and this campaign has not ended yet, but they know exactly who to not mess with and who can be upset.”