Mossad chief David Barnea recently said that Israel inflicted “significant damage” on Iran in the 12-Day War, but indicated that Jerusalem must continue its operations against the Islamic Republic.
According to statements released by the Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to Mossad headquarters, Barnea said: “We are committed to continue to act decisively to prevent a future Iranian threat to Israel and to seek to maximize the strategic opportunities that we face,” TOI reports.
Netanyahu told Mossad officials that his September 2024 pager and walkie-talkie operation against Hezbollah “set in motion everything that happened afterwards: the elimination of Nasrallah, the collapse of Assad, and then our joint operation to remove the immediate existential threat” in Iran, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The Pentagon said last week that Iran’s nuclear program had been delayed by up to two years, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attacks on the Fordo nuclear site had caused serious damage.
Araghchi said in a post on X that Tehran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement, shortly after President Masoud Pezeshkian formally suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in response to the attacks.
“Our cooperation with the IAEA will be channeled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious security reasons,” Araghchi added.
Iranian officials have harshly criticized the IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, for what they called the agency’s “silence” in the face of Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, has said that Iran could begin producing enriched uranium within months, raising questions about the effectiveness of U.S. strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program.
Meanwhile, U.S. CENTCOM chief Gen. Michael Kurilla visited Israel on Wednesday as the official guest of IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir to discuss the IDF’s achievements in Operation Rising Lion, in a joint roundtable discussion on the IDF’s recent achievements in Operation Rising Lion against Iran and broader regional security developments.
Kurilla also visited the Israeli Air Force’s underground command center together with IAF Chief of Staff General Tomer Bar.
The IDF said it attaches great importance to its ties with the US military and thanked CENTCOM for its strategic coordination during recent operations.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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