Israeli security agency chief on secret Washington visit for ‘sensitive’ talks with FBI: report

Shin Bet head visit comes days after PM Netanyahu’s son urgently evacuated from US over security threat

The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency secretly travelled to Washington for talks with FBI officials on “sensitive issues,” Israeli media reported on Monday.

Channel 13 said David Zini left for the US capital for meetings with his counterparts at the FBI.

An unnamed source told the broadcaster that the talks would involve “sensitive issues,” without providing further details.

Neither Israel nor the US has announced the visit.

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The trip comes days after Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was urgently evacuated from the US over what Israel’s public broadcaster KAN described as a “significant threat.”

KAN said Saturday that Shin Bet confirmed the threat and ordered his immediate return to Israel.

The news comes amid renewed regional tensions after US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, killing two people and injuring two others, according to Iranian media.

Iran later announced retaliatory attacks on sites used by US forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early on Monday it had struck the King Hussein and Azraq airbases in Jordan with ballistic missiles while also targeting Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE with explosive drones.

The IRGC said the operation was retaliation for a US strike on Larak Island on Sunday, which reportedly aimed to stop the placement of sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit point.

Trump also expressed scepticism regarding a diplomatic breakthrough, noting that while Tehran sought a meeting, current US sanctions were "kicking in strongly."

UAE reserves 'right to respond' to Iranian drone attack, calls it a 'dangerous escalation'

The United Arab Emirates condemned an Iranian drone attack on Monday as a "dangerous escalation" and a violation of its sovereignty.

The UAE reserves the right to respond, its foreign ministry said.

The military's air defences intercepted the Iranian drone over UAE territorial waters, the foreign ministry added.

Earlier, the UAE defence ministry said its air force engaged a drone over its territorial waters that had come from Iran

It did not provide further details on the drone, including whether it was shot down or its intended target.

Iranian state TV reported that its army had attacked the United Arab Emirates' Al Minhad Air Base in response to US strikes on Larak Island.

“Since early this morning, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army has targeted locations housing US military helicopters and personnel at Al Minhad base in the UAE with dozens of explosive drones,” the army said, according to Iranian news agencies.

It described Al Minhad as an important logistics and air transport hub for foreign forces and vowed further retaliation against US troops.

The army said the attack was carried out in retaliation for the killing of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and civilians in Sunday’s US strike on Iran’s Larak Island.