Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear sites at some point a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general has told Newsweek.
The world is waiting for Israel’s response to Iran firing around 200 ballistic missiles at the country earlier this month. This followed the killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July and was in response to “the intensification of the regime’s evils with the support of the United States,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said at the time. The latter refers to attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF have vowed to respond, stoking fears of an all-out war.
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi told Newsweek he believes “Israel won’t let Iran become nuclear and sees this war as a historic opportunity to deal with the big challenge of Iran becoming a nuclear power.”
Missiles are launched in a drill in Iran in this photo released on Jan. 15, 2021. A former IDF general believes Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear program at some point.
Missiles are launched in a drill in Iran in this photo released on Jan. 15, 2021. A former IDF general believes Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear program at some point.
AP
“I don’t think that in this specific attack Israel will attack nuclear sites, but Israel will not stop until Iran’s nuclear sites are destroyed,” he said. “So if it doesn’t happen now, it will happen later on.”
He went on to say that he thinks “this upcoming attack is the beginning of a long war that might take many months to really degrade Iran’s capability to become a nuclear power.”
Avivi also addressed the U.S.’ role in this, saying the campaign would be “defined by the next administration’s policy and whether they’re willing to deal with Iran militarily and attack their nuclear sites and their military capabilities and the regime itself.”
He said: “So the question is: Is Israel going to deal with this alone or is this going to be led, in the coming months, by the U.S., and this will be dependent on the result of the elections and the next administration’s policy.”
Newsweek has contacted the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, via email, for a response to this. It has also contacted Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email.
Since Iran’s strike on October 1, there has been speculation about whether Israel will target Iran’s nuclear program, which has become a growing worry for the Western world, which has previously placed Tehran under sanctions in an effort to get it to agree to restrictions on its nuclear activities.
Netanyahu has reportedly told the Joe Biden administration he will not strike oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, according to two officials quoted by The Washington Post.
Biden has said he would not support Israel launching a retaliatory strike on nuclear sites in Iran, but he also reiterated his support for Israel, saying: “Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully supportive of Israel.”
It comes after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly told his military to prepare multiple different responses to an Israeli attack, but is hoping to avoid an all-out war, according to four Iranian officials who spoke anonymously to The New York Times this week.
The group, which includes two members of the IRGC, said Khamenei had made clear that the scope of Iran’s retaliation would largely be determined by how severe Israel’s attack is.
They claimed that striking Iran’s nuclear sites was one of several things, including hitting oil and/or energy facilities and assassinating top officials, that would trigger a certain response from Tehran.