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Amid intensifying Iran-Israel conflict, Netanyahu said Israel can eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear facilities without US approval, asserting Israel won’t seek a ‘green light’.
A man looks at flames rising from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran (Photo: AP)
As the Iran-Israel conflict rages on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is capable of removing all of Iran’s nuclear facilities, whether or not US President Donald Trump decides to join in, as the role of the United States remains uncertain.
Netanyahu also said Israel will not wait for a green signal from the United States before it hits Iranian sites, including the underground nuclear site in Fordo.
“We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language interview with the Kan public broadcaster.
“The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is, first and foremost, a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.
Whether Donald Trump “wants to join or not, that’s entirely his decision,” he said.
“He’ll do what is good for the United States, and I’ll do what is good for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel is not asking for permission, or a “green light” from any foreign power.
Fordo is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs.
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The Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict.
Israeli airstrikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported.
The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, southwest of the city’s downtown. But with Iran’s internet shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people could see the message.
Israel is widely believed to be the only country with a nuclear weapons program in the Middle East, but has never acknowledged the existence of its arsenal.
DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE WILL ‘DECIDE ON US INVOLVEMENT’
On Thursday, Donald Trump said he will decide within two weeks whether the US military will get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, as the two sides attacked one another for a seventh day.
Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, and has been keeping the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution.
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He even said nobody knew what he would do. A day earlier, he mused on social media about killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, then demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender.
The threats have caused cracks in Trump’s support base between more hawkish traditional Republicans and the party’s more isolationist elements.
IRAN REJECTS CALL TO SURRENDER
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel of “dire consequences” and said that Tehran will harshly retaliate against Israel’s attacks, asserting that Tehran will not surrender or accept an imposed peace or war.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60 per cent, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
On Thursday, anti-aircraft artillery was audible across Tehran, and witnesses in the central city of Isfahan reported seeing anti-aircraft fire after nightfall.
Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” around the Arak site, which it said had been evacuated ahead of the strike.
MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS, AND DEATHS ON BOTH SIDES OF WAR
Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. It said its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iransaid the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Those killed include the military’s top echelon and nuclear scientists.
Israel has said at least two dozen Israeli civilians have died in Iranian missile attacks, according to multiple media reports.
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Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
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