Israel could be poised to strike Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities to prevent Tehran from further developing its arsenal, experts warn.
This week, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel’s major cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
This came after Israel had assassinated a number of key figures within Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have soared since October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel and killed 1,200 people. Since then, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza.
David Albright, the Founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, has said Israel should target Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities.
He told The Sun that this is a “unique” time to attack Iran’s nuclear bases without suffering huge consequences.
Mr Albright said Tehran will be looking to accelerate its nuclear weapon programme now that Iran is on the back foot.
He said: “This is a very dangerous time because Iran, based on what’s happened with the invasion of Lebanon and the pager attacks, doesn’t have a lot of deterrence to stop an Israeli attack.
“That means Iran has a greater motivation to build nuclear weapons as their ultimate deterrent.
“But at the same time, Israel looks at Iran and sees that its ring of fire is weakened drastically.
“So here’s a unique time to attack the nuclear sites and not suffer huge consequences.”
Former Israeli Major Ahron Bregman also warned that “nuclear Iran” has threatened to “destroy Israel.”
Former US President Donald Trump has also urged Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities.
Ex-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has also predicted that Israel will launch a symbolic attack on Tehran’s nuclear weapons labs.
He told the Guardian: “Israel has a compelling need, even an imperative, to respond. I think that no sovereign nation on Earth could fail to respond.
“I think we might see something like that. It might be a massive attack, and it could be repeated more than once.”