Some of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile survived American and Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear sites last month and may be accessible to Iranian nuclear engineers, a senior Israeli official said, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday. In a briefing with reporters the day earlier, the official said any attempts by Iran to recover the material, believed buried in caskets underground, would almost certainly be detected, and Israel would be able to launch strikes on such efforts.
In an interview he gave to Fox News on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel knows where the enriched uranium is buried and added that while it is a vital component, it is not enough to build a nuclear bomb.
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The Fordow nuclear site in Iran after a U.S. strike
(Photo: SATELLITE IMAGE ©2024 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES)
Prime Minister Netanyahu on Fox news
(Fox News)
He said the Iranians were afraid. “They know they felt the might – the might of America, the might of Israel and the combined might of Israel and America. It's made an impact, not only in the Middle East, it's made an impact around the world. Everybody sees this."
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During Netanyahu's visit to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed skepticism about launching another strike on Iran and its nuclear facilities but did not rule out the possibility. “I hope we're not going to have to do that. I can't imagine wanting to do that. I can't imagine them wanting to do it—they want to meet; they want to work something out. They're very different than they were two weeks ago,” he said.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Vance meet Prime MInister Netanyahu in the Oval Office
(Photo: GPO)
According to a Reuters report citing two diplomatic sources, Trump and Netanyahu are not in agreement on how to deal with Iran. The leaders understand that their victory was in the short term and not a strategic win since the enriched material was not destroyed and could be used to rebuild Iran's nuclear program.
Trump preferred to reach a deal with Iran, while Netanyahu believes only a credible military threat would prevent the Iranian regime from working to achieve nuclear capability