Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel is preparing to quickly strike Iran if ongoing indirect nuclear talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic collapse, Axios reported on May 21, citing a pair of Israeli sources.
“Bibi is waiting for the nuclear talks to collapse and for the moment Trump will be disappointed about the negotiations and open to giving him the go-ahead,” said one of the sources, using the nickname for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli intelligence community believes that the nuclear talks could collapse soon, after previously believing an agreement was close, according to the U.S. news website.
One of the sources that spoke with Axios said that the Israeli Defense Forces believe that the window to attack Iran may soon slam shut, requiring Israel to move fast if the negotiations do not pan out, without why the military reached that assessment.
A day earlier, CNN revealed that Intelligence obtained recently by the U.S. suggests that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. According to the news channel, the intelligence was based on the public and private communications from senior Israeli officials as well as intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements.
Axios sources confirmed CNN’s report, adding that any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would require a weeklong campaign and not be a one-off. Conducting such an operation would also pose great risks to the Israeli forces, the report noted.
“There was a lot of training and the U.S. military sees everything and understands Israel is preparing,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.
A U.S. source told Axios that Washington is concerned that Israel could go ahead with a strike without getting prior approval from President Donald Trump.
Other countries in the Middle East are also worried that an Israeli strike could release radioactive material that would spread across the region, according to the website.
The nuclear talks saw some progress earlier this month, then a serious disagreement on uranium enrichment was reported.
Washington stressed that in any deal Iran would not be permitted to enrich uranium, while Tehran vowed that it won’t give up its right to do so.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on May 20 that the U.S. demands that Tehran stop enriching uranium are “excessive and outrageous,” voicing doubts over whether the talks with Washington on a new nuclear deal would succeed.
Despite the disagreement, the two sides have reportedly agreed to hold another round of indirect talks in the Italian capital, Rome, later this week.
Any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities is guaranteed to spark a war. The U.S. will be dragged in, even if it was not involved in the attack.
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