Iranians burn makeshift Israeli and US flags along with a cardboard obelisk, in Tehran, Iran, February 10, 2025 (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
THE JERUSALEM POST | Published February 13, 2025
A report by the Wall Street Journal shows Israel may be planning major strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites this year, seeking potential US backing under the Trump administration.
An American intelligence assessment determined that Israel may be considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities this year, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post reported Wednesday night.
The Washington Post was more specific, claiming Israel plans to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025.
The two articles are based off a report produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, published in January. The assessment, conducted during the final days of the Biden administration, claims that Israel has been considering large-scale strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with the aim of exploiting Iran’s weaknesses.
The WSJ also reported that Israel is expected to urge the current administration to back the idea, as US President Donald Trump is seen as someone who could potentially join the strikes.
Last week, Trump signed a national-security memorandum regarding his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran. While he did not exclude the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran, he showed preference for a diplomatic method first.
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani walks near an Iranian missile during an unveiling ceremony in Tehran, Iran, in this picture obtained on February 17, 2024. (credit: Iran’s Defense Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
“Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” he wrote last week on Truth Social.
US military sources told the WSJ that American support, including in the form of weapons, would prove essential for Israel to successfully carry out such attacks.
The Washington Post lays out two possible attacks: one, a distance attack, known as a standoff strike, which involves the launching of air-launched ballistic missiles, or ALBMs, outside of Iranian airspace; the second, arguably riskier option, involves Israeli air craft entering Iranian airspace, flying near the nuclear sites and dropping BLU-109s, a type of bunker buster.
Notably, the sale of guidance kits for BLU-109s to Israel was approved by the Trump administration last week.
Iran continues to grow its nuclear capabilities
Additionally, it was reported that Israel is concerned about the time frame as the opportunity to stop Iran’s nuclear capabilities shrinks.
However, the Washington Post added that the intelligence assessment found that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would – in the best case scenario – only set Tehran back by months, or maybe even weeks. It also suggested that such strikes would propel Iran to pursue weapons-grade enrichment of uranium.
The report stated that the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to the allegations, nor did the IDF spokesman.
Trump recently stated that he would prefer to sign a deal with Iran that renders it non-nuclear rather than attack the Islamic Republic in an interview with the New York Post.
“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” the president was cited as saying.
“They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die,” he added.
Echoing these sentiments, former Israeli national security advisor Yakov Amidror told WSJ that Israel would be better served by a new deal in which Iran agrees to dismantle its nuclear program.
If this fails, “Israel will have to act against the nuclear project of Iran,” he added.
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SOURCE: www.m.jpost.com
RELATED: Israel seen as likely to attack Iran by midyear, Post reports
BUSINESS WORLD ONLINE | Published February 13, 2025
US INTELLIGENCE warns that Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program by midyear, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing multiple intelligence reports.
Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the newspaper reported.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House declined to comment. The Post said the Israeli government, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told the Post that President Donald Trump “will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”
“While he prefers negotiating a resolution to Americans’ long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon,” Hughes told The Post.
The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.
It warned that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities.
Current and former US officials familiar with the intelligence said Israel has determined its bombing of Iran in October degraded Iran’s air defenses and left the country exposed to a follow-on assault, said the Post, which did not name the officials.
Iran and Israel engaged in tit-for-tat strikes last year amid wider tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The intelligence reports envisioned two potential strike options that each would involve the United States providing aerial refueling support and intelligence, the Post said.
Mr. Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired on Monday he would prefer to make a deal with Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying he also believed Iran would prefer a deal over an armed conflict.
“Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not happen,” Mr. Trump said.
The United States under President Barack Obama and European allies negotiated an agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear program, but Trump in his first term in office, encouraged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew the United States from the landmark accord and ordered sanctions reimposed on Tehran in 2018.
Iran has since restarted its nuclear program and is enriching uranium, according to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran, Britain, France and Germany have met in Geneva to search for a way to resume nuclear talks, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iran’s state TV in January. — Reuters
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SOURCE: www.bworldonline.com
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