Israeli General: Military Action Against Iranian Nuclear Program Looms

(Patria) - A senior Israeli general has raised the prospect of "action" against Iran, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security advisor downplayed any immediate threat posed by a new underground Iranian nuclear facility, Reuters reports.

"Iran has advanced its uranium enrichment further than ever before... Negative developments that could lead to (military) action are on the horizon," Major General Herzi Halevi, chief of the Israeli armed forces, said in a speech.

He did not specify what these might be, nor what actions might be taken and by whom.

"We have capabilities, and others also have capabilities," Halevi told a conference in Herzliya, an international security forum, in an apparent allusion to Israel's ally, the United States.

Experts are divided on whether the Israeli military has the strength to inflict lasting damage on Iran's nuclear facilities, which are distant, scattered, and defended. Iran denies seeking a bomb and has promised devastating retaliation for any attack.

There have been speculations that Israel might use countries on Iran's borders as springboards for attacks. One such country, Azerbaijan, has dismissed the idea despite its strong Israeli ties.

"We refrain from interfering in (other countries') disputes or problems, including allowing or giving our territory for some operations or adventures," said Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev at the conference.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that Iran is building a new underground site in the Zagros Mountains to replace a uranium centrifuge production center at nearby Natanz that was hit by an explosion and fire in July 2020.

"This, of course, limits the capacity to carry out attacks, compared to above-ground facilities, which are of course easier. But what can be said about this matter is that there is no place that cannot be reached," said Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi at the conference.

Following the 2020 incident, Iran announced in 2021 that it was working on relocating some of its centrifuge production halls to the "heart of the mountain near Natanz," an area where Iranian engineers have long been excavating.
Hanegbi refrained from threatening an explicit Israeli attack and even suggested that the responsibility would lie with the US, noting that they possess huge GBU-43/B bombs that are not in the Israeli arsenal. In any case, Hanegbi added, "this (underground facility near Natanz) is years away from completion."

Although Washington prefers to continue diplomacy with Iran, the allies see "eye to eye" and have no significant difference in potential "red lines" for ultimate military action, he said.