The interests of the US and Israel are not necessarily the same in the ongoing escalation, Steve Bannon believes

The US should pursue its own interests rather than those of Israel, Steve Bannon, a former aide to US President Donald Trump, has said, warning that the new escalation in the Middle East could potentially drag Washington into a war with Iran.

Bannon made the remarks to the Financial Times on Saturday, suggesting that the interests of the US and its closest ally in the Middle East were not necessarily the same in the current crisis.

"They [the Israelis] are Israel First; we need to always be America First," he said.

When asked whether he feared the US could ultimately be dragged into a war against Iran, the former Trump ally said he was "very much" wary of such a scenario.

The Israeli military launched a major attack on Iran early on Friday, striking nuclear facilities and military installations across the country. It also launched targeted assassinations which killed several senior military commanders and high-profile nuclear scientists. West Jerusalem claimed the attack was a preemptive measure aimed at preventing the allegedly imminent production of a nuclear bomb by Tehran.

Iran retaliated by launching a major ballistic missile and drone barrage at Israel, vowing to continue strikes for as long as it deems necessary. Tehran has repeatedly denied it had been harboring any plans to pursue a nuclear weapons program, insisting its uranium-enrichment activities have been serving strictly civilian purposes.

The Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic comes after five rounds of US-Iranian talks on the country's nuclear program. The negotiations have effectively stalled and failed to produce any tangible result. Following the attack, Tehran said the continuation of dialogue with Washington was "meaningless."

US President Donald Trump claims to have known about the impending Israeli strikes beforehand, and lauded them as "very successful." Trump suggested Tehran brought the attack upon itself through its reluctance to strike a nuclear deal with the US.

"We gave them a chance, and they didn't take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more," he said on Friday, commenting on the attack.

(RT.com)