Israeli Official: Israel is not close to attacking Iranian nuclear facilities

(Patria) - Israel is not approaching an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, said national security advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported.

Tzachi Hanegbi said that it is still unclear what will come of the negotiations led by Israel's main ally, the United States, and Iran in recent weeks in an effort to outline steps that could limit Tehran's nuclear program and de-escalate tensions.

Regardless, no agreement would bind Israel, which views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, Hanegbi told Channel 13 television.
Asked if Israel's decision to launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran was closer, Hanegbi said:

"We are not getting closer because the Iranians have stopped, for some time now, enriching uranium to a level that, in our opinion, is a red line."

Hanegbi added: "But it can happen. Therefore, we are preparing for the moment, if it comes, when we will have to defend the people of Israel from a fanatical regime that wants to destroy us and is armed with weapons of mass destruction."

Netanyahu set a "red line" on Iranian uranium enrichment at 90 percent fissile purity. Iran has increased enrichment to 60 percent in recent years.