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Israel likely to attack Iran by midyear, Washington Post reports
Such an attack would set back Iran's nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the newspaper reported.
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This handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on January 8, 2020 shows an overview of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, southeast of the city of Bushehr. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country is in no hurry to see the US return to a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers after Joe Biden takes office this month. Since 2019, Iran has gradually suspended implementation of most of its key obligations under the nuclear deal, which set strict limits on its activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.
(AFP/Maxar Technologies)
U
S intelligence warns that Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear program by midyear, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing multiple intelligence reports.
Such an attack would set back Iran's nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the newspaper reported.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House declined to comment. The Post said the Israeli government, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told the Post that President Donald Trump "will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon."
"While he prefers negotiating a resolution to American's long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn't willing to deal, and soon," Hughes told The Post.
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 Defense 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 has determined its bombing of Iran in October degraded Iran's air defenses and left the country exposed to a follow-on assault, said the Post, which did not name the officials.
Iran 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 that each would involve the United States providing aerial refueling support and intelligence, the Post said.
Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired on Monday 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.
"Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not happen," Trump said.
The United States under President Barack Obama and European allies negotiated an agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear program, but Trump in his first term in office, encouraged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew the United States from the landmark accord and ordered sanctions reimposed on Tehran in 2018.
Iran has since restarted its nuclear program and is enriching uranium, according to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran, Britain, France and Germany have met in Geneva to search for a way to resume nuclear talks, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iran's state TV in January.
