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Israel to attack Iran? Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new strikes, says report
This comes just months after Iran and Israel engaged in an almost two-week long war earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to meet United States President Donald Trump later this month on December 29, is expected to brief the latter on Iran's alleged expansion of its ballistic missile program and why it is necessary to take action against that threat, reported NBC news citing sources on Saturday.
There is mounting concern among Israeli officials that Iran is working on expanding production of its ballistic missile program and they are preparing to bring this to Trump's attention with a bid to attack Iran again, the report said citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans and four former US officials briefed about the plans.
This comes just months after Iran and Israel engaged in an almost two-week long war earlier this year, during which, Israel reportedly damaged Iran's ballistic missile program.
The sources cited in the NBC report also said that Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is reconstructing its nuclear sites which were destroyed when the US bombed them in June during the Israel-Iran war.
However, according to the sources, more pressing concern for the Israeli officials are Iran's alleged efforts to rebuild its ballistic missile production facilities and to repair its damaged air defence systems.
The sources also said that part of Netanyahu's argument to Trump would be that Iran's actions pose a threat to not just Israel but also the wider region which includes US interests. The Israeli PM is also likely to present President Trump with options for US' participation or assistance in any potential new military operations against Iran, the report said.
What White House said
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian government “corroborated the United States government’s assessment that Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities”.
“As President Trump has said, if Iran pursued a nuclear weapon, that site would be attacked and would be wiped out before they even got close,” Kelly said, according to the report.
