Netanyahu to meet with Pompeo as Iran becomes more defiant

Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Brussels Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss regional developments.

It comes as Iran shows new signs of strength and defiance, such as testing ballistic missiles and launching what it calls a radar-evading stealth ship.

Originally, the meeting was set for Wednesday but Pompeo will be leaving Europe early to attend the funeral of George H.W. Bush, who died Friday.

Israeli government officials said the evening meeting was "urgent," a pro-Netanyahu newspaper reported. It comes after the Trump administration signaled that it had finished structuring a peace plan with Palestinians that it will present early next year. The meeting also follows Iran's testing of medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads.

Pompeo opposes Iran's ballistic missile tests, a violation of United Nations security council resolutions.

"As we have been warning for some time, Iran's missile testing and missile proliferation is growing," Pompeo said. "We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. We condemn these activities and call upon Iran to cease immediately all activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons."

U.S. officials are also concerned there's also the threat of Iran establishing bases in Syria, which borders Israel.