 "US intelligence warns of Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites by coming midyear: Report")
US intelligence has warned that Israel could launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear programme by mid-year, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing multiple intelligence reports.
The newspaper reported that, according to multiple intelligence reports from the late Biden administration and early Trump administration, such an attack could delay Iran’s nuclear programme by weeks or months while heightening regional tensions and increasing the risk of a broader conflict.
The White House declined to comment on the development. The Washington Post said the Israeli government, the CIA, the Defence Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also declined to comment.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told The Washington Post that President Donald Trump “will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”
“While he prefers negotiating a resolution to America’s long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon,” Hughes said.
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 Defence 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 had determined that its bombing of Iran in October degraded Iran’s air defences and left the country exposed to a follow-on assault, the Post reported, without naming the officials.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIran 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, both of which would involve the United States providing aerial refuelling support and intelligence, the Post said.
Trump told Fox News in an interview aired on Monday that 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.
This could be retaliation for the massive Iranian missile attack on Israel carried out in October last year.
This operation, dubbed “Operation True Promise 2” by Iran, was reportedly in response to the assassinations of key figures such as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC General Abbas Nilforoushan.
With inputs from Reuters.
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