WP: Israel plans to strike Iranʼs nuclear facilities in the coming months

Israel is likely to attempt to strike Iranʼs nuclear facilities in the coming months, which could reignite tensions in the Middle East and provoke a larger conflict between the two countries.

This is reported by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

According to media reports, such information is contained in analytical reports by American intelligence agencies, presented both in the last month of Joe Bidenʼs presidential term and after Donald Trumpʼs return to the White House.

The report says Israel is likely to attempt to strike Iranʼs Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025. Current and former US officials familiar with the intelligence say that after bombing Iran in October 2024, Israel degraded the countryʼs air defenses and left Tehran open to further strikes.

Strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities would likely require U.S. military support. Under Trump, the WSJ sources say, Israel is more likely to receive it than it was under Biden.

The US assessment has shown that an Israeli attack on Iranʼs nuclear facilities would at best delay its nuclear program for a few months, or more likely weeks. It would also encourage Iran to enrich uranium more quickly.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly signaled that there is an opportunity for more decisive action against Iran, including a strike on its nuclear facilities. In November 2024, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "Iran is more inclined than ever to strike its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal — to disrupt and eliminate the existential threat to Israel."

• Iran has been accused for many years of trying to create nuclear weapons. However, the Iranian authorities claim that the countryʼs nuclear program is purely peaceful. Tehran suspended the program as part of the "nuclear deal" concluded in 2015. However, in 2019, when the United States terminated the agreement, development resumed. In January 2020, after the US military killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on the orders of Donald Trump, Iran finally withdrew from the "nuclear deal."
• During Joe Biden’s presidency, Iran’s nuclear program, as Axios noted, “has advanced significantly”. In late December 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran had increased the rate of production of uranium enriched to 60% (uranium enriched to 90% or higher is required to produce nuclear weapons).

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