Israel 'preparing strikes on nuclear sites' and could spark huge Middle East war
Israel is reportedly making plans to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, according to intelligence obtained by the United States. Donald Trump has been seeking a diplomatic deal with Tehran over its nuclear programme and so an attack by Israel would likely raise tensions between Israel and the US as well as risking a wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
The Trump administration has also been seeking to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza through negotiations in the region. New intelligence revealing proposals for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities has been reported by CNN, who have cited several US officials. But at the same time it emphasised no final decision had been made on an attack, and it is thought this may depend on how well talks go between the US and Tehran over its nuclear programme.
And there wasn't positive news yesterday as Iran's supreme leader pushed back against US criticism of the country's nuclear programme, saying Tehran won't seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and calling American statements 'nonsense'.
'They say, 'We won't allow Iran to enrich uranium.' That's way out of line,' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a memorial for late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. 'No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction — and it will stick to them.'
Khamenei's remarks came as indirect talks between Iran and the US reportedly continue, though he expressed doubt about their outcome. 'Yes, indirect negotiations were held during Raisi's time too, just like now,' he said. 'But they didn't go anywhere — and we don't expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen.'
His comments reflect Tehran's growing frustration with the stalled nuclear discussions, as well as the broader tensions that have defined US-Iran relations in recent years.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the state-run IRNA news agency that 'no definitive decision has been made about the next round of negotiations', adding that 'the Islamic Republic of Iran is reviewing the matter while considering the US side's contradictory and constantly changing positions.'
IRNA also reported that Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy foreign minister, said Tehran had received a proposal regarding the next round of indirect talks with Washington and was currently reviewing it.
And so news that Israel could launch an attack further complicates the situation. Another person familiar with US intelligence on the issue told CNN: 'The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely.'
Concern in the US comes not only from public and private messaging between senior Israeli officials that the country is considering such a move, but also from intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements suggesting an imminent strike.
And among the military preparations the US has observed are the movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise, two of the sources also told CNN, but there is a possibility that these manoeuvres have been designed as a threat to Iran over potential consequences if a nuclear deal is not reached.
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