An American intelligence assessment determined that Israel may be considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities this year, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post reported Wednesday night.
The Washington Post was more specific, claiming Israel plans to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025.
The two articles are based off a report produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, published in January. The assessment, conducted during the final days of the Biden administration, claims that Israel has been considering large-scale strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with the aim of exploiting Iran’s weaknesses.
The WSJ also reported that Israel is expected to urge the current administration to back the idea, as US President Donald Trump is seen as someone who could potentially join the strikes.
Last week, Trump signed a national-security memorandum regarding his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran. While he did not exclude the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran, he showed preference for a diplomatic method first.
“Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” he wrote last week on Truth Social.
US military sources told the WSJ that American support, including in the form of weapons, would prove essential for Israel to successfully carry out such attacks.
The Washington Post lays out two possible attacks: one, a distance attack, known as a standoff strike, which involves the launching of air-launched ballistic missiles, or ALBMs, outside of Iranian airspace; the second, arguably riskier option, involves Israeli air craft entering Iranian airspace, flying near the nuclear sites and dropping BLU-109s, a type of bunker buster.
Notably, the sale of guidance kits for BLU-109s to Israel was approved by the Trump administration last week.
Iran continues to grow its nuclear capabilities
Additionally, it was reported that Israel is concerned about the time frame as the opportunity to stop Iran’s nuclear capabilities shrinks.
However, the Washington Post added that the intelligence assessment found that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would – in the best case scenario – only set Tehran back by months, or maybe even weeks. It also suggested that such strikes would propel Iran to pursue weapons-grade enrichment of uranium.
The report stated that the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to the allegations, nor did the IDF spokesman.
Trump recently stated that he would prefer to sign a deal with Iran that renders it non-nuclear rather than attack the Islamic Republic in an interview with the New York Post.
“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” the president was cited as saying.
“They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die,” he added.
Echoing these sentiments, former Israeli national security advisor Yakov Amidror told WSJ that Israel would be better served by a new deal in which Iran agrees to dismantle its nuclear program.
If this fails, “Israel will have to act against the nuclear project of Iran,” he added.
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