By wuttichai1983 @Adobe Stock
U.S. intelligence indicates Israel may strike Iranian nuclear sites this year, taking advantage of Iran’s weakened state due to economic crises and sanctions, according to Jared Malsin, Alexander Ward, and Dov Lieber of the Wall Street Journal. Any attack could require U.S. military support. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu focuses on Iran’s nuclear threat, President Donald Trump has prioritized regional peace, particularly with Saudi Arabia. They write:
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded during the final days of the Biden administration that Israel is considering significant strikes on Iranian nuclear sites this year, aiming to take advantage of Iran’s weakness, officials familiar with the report said.
The finding was included in an analytical assessment produced around the new year as the Biden administration wound down. The analysis highlighted the risks of further high-stakes military activity in the Middle East after the degradation of Iran’s capabilities over the past year. […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Israel’s military declined to comment. Israeli officials have repeatedly signaled that there is an opportunity for more aggressive action against Iran.
“Iran is more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in November. “We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal—to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.” […]
In December, the U.S. intelligence community issued its sharpest warning yet that Iran could move to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has amassed a large stockpile of highly enriched uranium and is thought to have been working on the technical details of completing work on a bomb should it make the political decision to go ahead. […]
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria also deprived Iran of one of its most important allies and a crucial platform for projecting power in the region. Meanwhile, Iranian missile strikes against Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks have failed to do much damage.
Iran’s leaders are also struggling with an economic crisis brought on by bad management, corruption and heavy sanctions, leaving the country in a weakened state as international pressure builds. […]
“If a good agreement cannot be achieved, Israel will have to act against the nuclear project of Iran,” he said. […]
Avner Golov, a former senior director at Israel’s National Security Council and now vice president of MIND Israel, a security-focused nonprofit based in Tel Aviv, said while Netanyahu’s priority is the Iranian nuclear issue, Trump seems more interested in ending the war in Gaza and moving toward regional peace deals.
“At the end of the day,” Golov said of Trump’s priorities, “it’s Saudi first with all the deals around it, then Iran.”
Read more here.
Also, read U.S. Authorizes Long-Awaited Israel Bomb Delivery
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