Israeli FM warns of ‘military option’ to prevent Iran going nuclear - Politico
Israel’s foreign minister has warned that time is running out to stop Iran gaining a nuclear weapon and military action must be considered, according to Politico.
“We don't have much time," Gideon Sa’ar told the publication.
"I think that in order to stop a nuclear Iranian program before it will be weaponized, a reliable military option should be on the table," he said, as Iran has already enriched enough uranium for what he said was “a couple of bombs”.
It comes while US President Donald Trump is exerting maximum pressure on Tehran to bring about a deal in his second term.
Sa’ar said that diplomatic options were optimal but the chances of success are not huge, adding that a nuclear Iran would be a “catastrophe for the security of Israel”, with Iran’s nuclear capabilities possibly triggering a nuclear race in the region with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The foreign minister’s comments follow strong words from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he will end Iran’s nuclear ambitions alongside the US president. “Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump… I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job,” Netanyahu said.
However, Trump has made clear that a diplomatic solution was the first course of action, instead of "bombing the hell out of it" while his security adviser, Mike Waltz, said all options are currently on the table in order to totally disable Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran's intelligence minister said on Saturday that Iran is a peace-seeking nation, while warning the US and Israel against action against its nuclear sites.
“The Iranian nation is peace-seeking and has no enmity with any country,” Esmail Khatib said.
“However, in the face of adventurism, malicious actions, and unwarranted interference—particularly from the US and the Zionist regime—we will adhere to the strategy of threat for threat and aggression for aggression.”
Most recently, Israel has been battling a new Iran threat in the occupied West Bank, where Tehran has been funnelling weapons and funds via Jordan to its allies such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
"We are now confronting a huge attempt by Iran via money and weapons that are floating to what you call the West Bank," Sa’ar said, as Iran continues to "inflame these territories” amid Israel’s fragile ceasefire with Iran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On Sunday, Israel's defense minister announced that its war on Iran-backed groups in the West Bank could go on as long as another year, with at least 40,000 people now displaced amid the fighting.
Speaking about the operation named Iron Wall, Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "We will not return to the reality that existed in the past.
"We will continue to clear refugee camps and other terrorist hotbeds in order to dismantle the battalions and terrorist infrastructures of extremist Islam that were built, armed, financed and trained by the Iranian axis of evil."
