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Israel will conduct airstrike drills in preparation for the nuclear talks between the West and Iran failing, according to the IDF.
The Israeli airforce will drill striking targets outside the borders of Israel, reported the Jerusalem Post, in its largest ever military drill.
Alongside the air force drills, the army is set to simulate heavy rioting at twice the levels seen last year during the 11-day war.
The drill is dubbed ‘Chariots of Fire’, with thousands of Israeli troops taking place in anticipation of a breakdown of negotiations with the West and Iran.
Fears of an Iranian nuclear bomb are back on the horizon as the hard line Islamist theocracy works on advanced uranium centrifuges at a new underground site, Israel has warned.
Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, said that Iranian efforts to purify uranium at sites under construction near its Natanz nuclear plant exceeded UN figures from a March report.
‘Iran is making an effort to complete the manufacturing and installation of 1,000 additional advanced IR6 centrifuges in its nuclear facilities, including new facilities being built at underground sites abutting Natanz,’ Gantz said in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv.
‘Iran continues to accumulate irreversible knowledge and experience in the development, research, production, and operation of advanced centrifuges.
‘It stands just a few weeks away from obtaining fissile material needed for a first bomb.’
Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for civilian projects or, at higher levels, to make fuel for a nuclear bomb.
Israel’s defence minister Benny Gantz warned that Iran is building new underground facilities to purify uranium in advanced centrifuges
Centrifuge machines at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility. The IAEA said in a March report that Iran had installed or planned to install a total of three IR6 cascades, amounting to around 660 machines, at new underground sites near Natanz
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which said in a March report that Iran had installed or planned to install a total of three IR6 cascades, amounting to around 660 machines – but Israel says the number is 1,000 machines
Pictured: Iranian Presidency, President Ebrahim Raisi. Iran is working to purify uranium at new sites that could enable it to build a nuclear bomb in a matter of weeks, according to Israel
This satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 7, 2021
A man celebrates with Israeli flags as Israeli Air Force planes fly in formation. The Israeli airforce will drill striking targets outside the borders of Israel, in preparation for nuclear talks failing between the West and Iran
Supporters of the Imamia Students Organization (ISO) shout slogans during a protest against Israel and the United States in Karachi. Israel is preparing for mass unrest several times larger than the riots experienced under the 11-days war in 2021
Iranian progress in the field is being watched keenly by world powers trying to resurrect a nuclear deal with Tehran, which denies having military designs.
A March 3 report by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had installed or planned to install a total of three IR6 cascades, amounting to around 660 machines.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said last month that Iran had set up a new underground Natanz workshop for making centrifuge parts, an apparent precaution against attacks.
In his remarks, Gantz alluded to Israel’s long-standing threat to take military action if it deems diplomacy is at a dead end to deny its arch-enemy the means to make nuclear weapons.
‘The price for tackling the Iranian challenge on a global or regional level is higher than it was a year ago and lower than it will be in a year,’ Gantz said.
Grossi (on screen) speaks online during hearing of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence in Brussels. He said last month that Iran had set up a new underground Natanz workshop for making centrifuge parts, an apparent precaution against attacks
Pictured: A general view of Amir-Kabir dam (Karaj dam) in Karaj river in Chalus Road, Alborz province, northern Iran, where Iran’s centrifuge facility is located
‘The cost of such a future war, which we hope will not happen, can be prevented or reduced’ with tougher negotiations by world powers, he added.
Israel has targeted Iran’s centrifuge facility in Karaj in a sabotage attack, and the Natanz nuclear plant twice, according to Iran.
‘Unfortunately because of a terrorist operation that took place against Karaj, we were obliged to intensify security measures under which we moved an important part of the machines and transferred the rest to Natanz and Isfahan,’ said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesperson for Iran’s atomic energy organization.
Isfahan is the location of another Iranian nuclear facility.
Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the EU have stalled after it failed to clarify questions about the presence of nuclear material at undeclared sites in Iran.
Grossi said last week that he was ‘extremely concerned’ about Iran’s lack of cooperation as the EU seeks to unblock talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Talks between world powers and Iran have stalled since mid-March as negotiators seek to return to the landmark accord that curtailed the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
