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Israel will not attack Iran's nuclear facilities to target military bases

Israel will not attack Iran's nuclear facilities to target military bases

Israel is not expected to attack Iran's nuclear program, but rather to focus on various types of military bases and intelligence sites. The Jerusalem Post has learned, according to a New York Times report the problem.

When sources were confronted with the Times report, they did not dispute its core message: They predicted that Israel's retaliation against Iran for its massive attack on the Jewish state on October 1 would fall more into the middle range of attack scenarios.

Furthermore, the post is clear that Israel's attack on Iran – which virtually all senior Israeli officials have publicly promised – will still be much more substantial than the smaller retaliatory strike on April 19, when Iran's S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was damaged.

Despite the idea that the current context could present a once-in-50-year opportunity to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, sources indicated that an attack on Iran's nuclear program would not necessarily be consistent with the “war objectives” as they have been set. The safety cabinet is compatible.

For example, while the most stated goal of the war is to defeat Hamas, and there has also been much discussion recently about the safe return of northern Israeli residents to the Lebanese border, another formal goal is to avoid becoming involved in a regional war to become involved, especially not with Iran post understands.

A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km (155 miles) south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. (Credit: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo)

Concern about a regional war with Iran

In other words, getting embroiled in a regional war with Iran – something the security cabinet, the IDF, the US and most of the West fear could happen if Israel were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities – could jeopardize Jerusalem's ability to do so To end conflict, significantly distract and impair We must fend off Hamas and achieve a safer situation with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The post has learned that some senior Israeli officials view Iran's second attack on October 1 (after the first attack on April 13 and 14) not as a sign of Tehran's readiness for a broader war, but as an attempt to restore its own deterrence to bring Israel into balance after the IDF managed to largely eliminate its two largest “insurance policies”: Hezbollah and Hamas.

According to the Islamic Republic's security doctrine before October 7, it could always use Hezbollah and Hamas as threats to control Israel should Jerusalem consider attacking its nuclear facilities or taking other actions to further Iran's ambitions in the region thwart those who went beyond what it was prepared to tolerate.

Still, the idea that Israel would not take advantage of this opportunity – that Iran has directly attacked the country for the second time in six months, this time with over 180 ballistic missiles that damaged several Israeli air bases and a number of other sensitive sites – is Intention to finally attack Tehran's nuclear program contradicts decades-long statements by some senior Israeli leaders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have both cited removing the Iranian nuclear threat from Jerusalem's neck as one of the greatest goals of their time in public service.


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If these officials and other members of the defense establishment were to abandon such an option and instead target Iranian military and intelligence bases, such as potentially ballistic missile facilities, drone facilities and commanders who coordinated attacks on Israel, that would be a sign of an attack dramatic shift toward directly emphasizing Gaza and Lebanon as bigger security concerns than Iran.

Although the war aims had implied this since the beginning of the war, many observers believed that the Iranian attack on Israel on October 1 had changed the situation after the attack in April and forced Iran to be on the front line, as it had already done had been before October 7, 2023.

Many U.S. and Western officials have said that Israel cannot destroy Iran's nuclear program on its own without American help because Jerusalem does not have a mega-bunker bomb to destroy the Islamic Republic's underground nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz.

But that post has previously published that multiple smaller bombs could be dropped repeatedly in the same area to cause an underground collapse not dissimilar in concept to the way Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah deep underground on September 27 85 bombs killed.

Fordow is much deeper underground than Nasrallah's hideout, but such a collapse could greatly slow and damage Iran's nuclear progress.

In addition, other important nuclear facilities, including Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and elsewhere, are located above ground.

Whether Iran would then redouble its efforts to produce a nuclear weapon is the subject of considerable debate, but there are more observers who favor the risk of such a scenario, as Tehran's actions to directly attack Israel twice led to IAEA nuclear inspectors saying ” “went blind.” “For three and a half years they have presented themselves as a more risk-taking player in many areas than was thought before 2024.



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