It has been suggested that Israel is gearing up to target Iran’s nuclear facilities within days, following claims by a UN monitoring agency that Tehran has violated its non-proliferation commitments.
There are concerns that Israel might carry out these strikes without backing from the US, amidst worries that Washington could settle for an agreement with Iran that doesn’t fully halt its nuclear enrichment. New negotiations are anticipated to begin on Sunday.
US sources disclosed the potential for an imminent operation, while a senior official from the Israeli prime minister’s office neither confirmed nor denied these reports.
But they did tell the Mail: ‘President Trump said it best, “Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon…” We agree. This is a global threat.’
The US has announced it will evacuate personnel from the region amid concerns they could be targeted by Iran in reprisals.
The New York Times reported an Iranian source saying Tehran has an immediate counter-attack plan in place if Israel strikes.
The response would reportedly be of a similar scope to the attack it launched in October last year, when Iran fired more than 200 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel to overload air-defence systems, sending the entire population into bomb shelters.
Most missiles were shot down or intercepted, causing limited damage.
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian (second right) listens to Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear achievements in Tehran this April
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years (pictured IAEA Director General Rafael Grossion Monday)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran this May
Iran were able to explain how uranium was detected at undeclared sites, despite the agency having investigated the matter for years
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
Iran failed to provide the watchdog with credible explanations as to how uranium was detected at undeclared sites, despite the agency having investigated the matter for years.
Nineteen of the 35 countries on the board of the IAEA voted for the motion to declare the breach.
The motion was submitted by the ‘Quad’ of nations – the US, UK, France and Germany – who said ‘states will be held to account if they do not live up to their obligations’
Iran says the decision was ‘political’ and said they would respond by setting up a new uranium enrichment facility.
It follows a report from the IAEA last week which criticised Iran’s ‘general lack of co-operation’ and said it had enough enriched uranium to potentially make ten nuclear bombs.
US and Iranian officials will hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran’s accelerating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday.
But Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday’s resolution ‘proves that Israel was right all along’.
Armored vehicles belonging to Iraqi security forces are stationed outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone as the US announces it will evacuate personnel from the region amid concerns they could be targeted by Iran in reprisals
Israel conducted strikes against Iran in April last year following an Iranian drone and missile attack
Israel intercepts Iranian projectiles above Jerusalem on October 1, 2024
On Wednesday, Donald Trump said he feared Tehran would not agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
‘They seem to be delaying. I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them,’ he said.
Mr Netanyahu has long been a strident critic of Iran and has accused Tehran of secretly attempting to acquire nuclear weapons, something they deny.
‘One way or the other, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,’ he said in April.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak and former chief of the Mossad national intelligence agency Tamir Pardo claimed Mr Netanyahu sought to bomb Iran in 2010 and 2011, but he was opposed by senior Israeli officials.
