Israel 'plans to hit Iran nukes in days': US warns of imminent strike after Tehran breaches weapons pledge
Israel is preparing to attack Iran 's nuclear sites within days after a UN watchdog said Tehran has breached its non-proliferation obligations, it has been claimed.
Strikes could take place without US support amid fears Washington could agree to a deal with Iran that falls short of ending all nuclear enrichment, with a fresh round of talks expected on Sunday.
Sources in the US revealed the possibility of an imminent attack, which a senior source in the Israeli prime minister's office would not confirm or deny.
But they did tell the Mail: 'President Trump said it best, 'Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon...' We agree. This is a global threat.'
The US has announced it will evacuate personnel from the region amid concerns they could be targeted by Iran in reprisals.
The New York Times reported an Iranian source saying Tehran has an immediate counter-attack plan in place if Israel strikes.
The response would reportedly be of a similar scope to the attack it launched in October last year, when Iran fired more than 200 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel to overload air-defence systems, sending the entire population into bomb shelters.
Most missiles were shot down or intercepted, causing limited damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years (pictured IAEA Director General Rafael Grossion Monday)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
Iran failed to provide the watchdog with credible explanations as to how uranium was detected at undeclared sites, despite the agency having investigated the matter for years.
Nineteen of the 35 countries on the board of the IAEA voted for the motion to declare the breach.
The motion was submitted by the 'Quad' of nations – the US, UK, France and Germany – who said 'states will be held to account if they do not live up to their obligations'
Iran says the decision was 'political' and said they would respond by setting up a new uranium enrichment facility.
It follows a report from the IAEA last week which criticised Iran's 'general lack of co-operation' and said it had enough enriched uranium to potentially make ten nuclear bombs.
US and Iranian officials will hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's accelerating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday.
But Benjamin Netanyahu's office said yesterday's resolution 'proves that Israel was right all along'.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump said he feared Tehran would not agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
'They seem to be delaying. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them,' he said.
Mr Netanyahu has long been a strident critic of Iran and has accused Tehran of secretly attempting to acquire nuclear weapons, something they deny.
'One way or the other, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,' he said in April.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak and former chief of the Mossad national intelligence agency Tamir Pardo claimed Mr Netanyahu sought to bomb Iran in 2010 and 2011, but he was opposed by senior Israeli officials.
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