BENJAMIN Netanyahu is plotting to bomb Iran as it is his “main goal for his legacy” to destroy its nuclear scheme, his ex-advisor said.

But government insiders in Europe have echoed Donald Trump’s warning not to undermine talks with Tehran and strike without US backing.

The United Nations’ nuclear oversight agency disclosed that Iran has covertly gathered uranium close to weapons-grade purity, approaching a quantity sufficient for the production of nine nuclear bombs.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been discreetly preparing to rapidly target Iran’s critical nuclear enrichment sites, considering Iran as its principal adversary.

Trump, however, has firmly insisted Israel take no action that could jeopardise his administration’s efforts to thrash out a deal with Iran.

It culminated in a heated phone call this week between the leaders as they continue to clash on how to curb Tehran’s nuke programme, sources said.

In April, The Sun reported that Israel was on the brink of launching a significant attack on Iran within weeks, vowing to take any necessary action to curb the Iranian regime’s nuclear capabilities.

But Trump called off any potential blitz – vowing to try and solve the pressing matter through diplomatic means before resorting to bombing.

Nadav Shtrauchler, a former adviser to Netanyahu, told The Sun how the PM could give the green light to bomb Iran to cement his legacy.

The strategic adviser said: “In his eyes, two things are highly important. One of them is Iran. The second is Saudi Arabia and the following of the Abraham Accords.

“Number one is Iran before everything else.

“He sees that as a threat as an immediate threat to the state and after the last two big strikes from Iran, people understood that next time it could be different material on those weapons.

“His main goal is to stop Iran and he needs to put every pressure he can.

“Of course, you want to do it with Trump and with the American administration – but I think he would not avoid attacking there.

“This is his main number one goal in this war.”

Shtrauchler said although Netanyahu would want America’s help, he will make sure Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s nuclear ambitions are destroyed “at all costs”.

“He changed the equation from the start,” he added.

“Iran was choking Israel from both sides from north, south and from other sides and he changed the equation by attacking Hezbollah and putting this threat out.

“There is no real threat rocket threat from Gaza today. And we know the situation with Syria has changed rapidly since the start of the war.

“We also know that Iran has been folded or been attacked on these anti-aircraft missiles.

“So he has a clear way, if he wants to do it.

“Of course, he will want to do it with the American administration but nevertheless, this is his main goal.

“So if it’s just knocking on a door before getting inside, it could be a sign but for sure is getting planned on that.

“He wants to do it [strike Iran] and he’s working on how to do it. And I think in the end he will try to do it with the Americans.

“But if he sees it’s not going, he will find a solution to change the equation with Iran and make sure that they don’t have any nuclear weapon at all costs.”

IDF sources, speaking to The Sun in Israel, previously said how  Tehran is now “many, many steps back” as forces have been working for months to clear the path for a major strike on Iran.

They told how three air campaigns in Iran have eliminated strategic aerial defences which were “the main obstacle” protecting the rogue nation’s nuke facilities.

The insider said the IDF has also worked to significantly downgrade the threat posed by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi – effectively leaving Iran isolated.

Vitally, this would allow Israeli aircraft to get to Iran’s borders with diminished fear of being blasted.

The IDF source told The Sun: “We struck in Yemen three or four times, and we had three air campaigns in Iran, eliminating on the way most of the aerial defence systems in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. 

“They were the main obstacle when thinking about a big aerial operation on the way to Iran. Their proxy aerial defence systems.”

Netanyahu believes this gaping weakness in Iran’s defence makes it the prime time to strike as it will not last.

But Trump has argued that negotiation coupled with the back-up threat of bombing is the ideal exploitation of Iran’s vulnerability.

Iran’s secret nuke site ‘Rainbow’

Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)

CHILLING satellite pictures reveal Iran’s sprawling secret nuclear site codenamed “Rainbow”.

Sources in the country have uncovered how the base is being used to develop nuclear-capable missiles with a 2,000-mile range – able to strike US bases in the Middle East.

Tehran’s tyrannical regime is using oil and chemical facilities as a cover for nuclear bases, bombshell docs shared with The Sun by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reveal.

Haunting aerial images expose a network of clandestine sites – including “Rainbow” – used by iron-fist leaders to create terrifying nuclear weapons.

A powerful nuclear blast from Iran could have disastrous consequences for the Middle East – and beyond – thanks to the capability of the warheads.

Now sources inside Iran have revealed the regime’s nuclear weaponisation entity, Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research’s (SPND) secret project to accelerate nuclear ability.

Hidden under the guise of a chemical production facility, the crowning jewel of the operation is a base known internally as the “Rangin Kaman (Rainbow) Site”.

It is some distance from Iran’s already known nuke bases, and is masked as a chemical production company known as Diba Energy Siba.

READ MORE HERE

Ex-Israeli foreign affairs minister Gabi Ashkenazi warned military force will be the only alternative if talks hit a wall.

The former IDF chief of general staff, speaking at a gathering of officials attended by The Sun is Paris, said: “From the national defence perspective, definitely the most important issue is Iran.

“I think definitely we have to solve the issue of Gaza, but Iran is the most challenging issue for a simple reason.

“This is the only potential existential threat to the state of Israel. And I think no government is going to accept a nuclear Iran.

“Imagine the 7th of October, and the Iranian nuclear umbrella. Can you imagine what would happen then? So we cannot do it.

“Hopefully it will be solved through diplomacy, and if not, we will have to use military force, because we don’t have any other alternative.”

Israel has not been involved in talks between Washington and Tehran and continues to push for military action.

Government sources in both Israel and Europe, however, have resonated with Trump and cautioned Netanyahu to refrain from striking.

Former Israeli ambassador Daniel Shek told The Sun: “I do hope that there will be an agreement because I think diplomacy has more to gain on the Iranian issue than military intervention.

“And people forget, historically wars aren’t won on the battlefield. Battles are won on the battlefield.

“Wars are won around the negotiating table for an exit strategy for stable arrangements that avoid the next war etc.

“That’s how it’s done. When did you see in history a war that ended simply because you killed the very last of the opposing soldiers?

“It doesn’t work that way.

“So what should concern Israelis – and especially the Israeli government – is that the US seems to be much more motivated in that direction than them.

“Currently you have an American president who just goes above our heads and things are happening and things will be concluded.

“It’s not done until it’s over without including Israel simply because Israel is dragging its feet and doesn’t show any enthusiasm.”

A source close to the French government meanwhile insisted Iran must be bombed “immediately” if they develop the capacity to explode a nuke – but not before.

The insider told The Sun in the French capital: “Iran has the capacity to have about three to five bombs.

“But that is only about the uranium. What they don’t have is the industrial capacity to make a bomb explode.

“Something worrying is that Russians or North Korea could give them this capacity.

“If Iran develops capacity to explode a nuclear bomb, they must be bombed immediately.

“Nobody wants to have a nuclear Iran.

“If we discover one day that they could make a nuclear test, the only way would be to bomb Iran.

“Israel says that we have to bomb it in advance, before they have the capacity to explode a nuclear bomb.”