Israeli minister calls for strike on Iran’s nuclear sites

Tel Aviv, Nov 11, (dpa/GNA) – Israel’s new Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has reportedly called for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Iran is more vulnerable than ever to damage to its nuclear facilities. There is now a possibility of removing the threat,” the newspaper Jerusalem Post cited the minister as saying on Monday, based on information from his office.

Katz was previously the foreign minister, and has only just taken over the defence portfolio, following the dismissal of his predecessor, Yoav Gallant.

Israel accuses Iran of striving to produce nuclear bombs. Iran, which denies Israel’s right to exist, refutes this.

“There is a possibility to achieve the most important goal, to thwart and remove the threat of annihilation from hanging over the State of Israel,” the newspaper the Times of Israel, quoted Katz as saying.

Israel said it had destroyed radar and missile facilities in Iran, in an attack in October.

However, the Iranian nuclear facilities are in part located in such deep tunnels that, according to experts, only the US military could destroy them. Israel is not capable of this, and could at best delay the expansion of the nuclear programme with strikes, according to the reasoning.

US President Joe Biden, is against an attack on the nuclear facilities. How the future US president, Donald Trump, will position himself on this issue was initially unclear.

GNA