According to people familiar with the a new secret report, U.S. intelligence services reportedly came to the conclusion in the last days of the Biden administration that Israel is thinking of carrying out large-scale attacks on Iranian nuclear sites this year in an effort to exploit Iran’s vulnerability.
Around the beginning of the new year, as the Biden administration came to an end, the conclusion was part of an analytical evaluation.
After Iran’s capabilities deteriorated during the previous year, the research emphasized the dangers of more high-stakes military action in the Middle East.
Seeing Trump as more likely to join an attack than now-former President Joe Biden and fearing the window for stopping Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon was closing, the intelligence analysis concluded that Israel would pressure the Trump administration to support the strikes, according to two people familiar with the intelligence.
According to one of the U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, the U.S. intelligence community generated a second report that was provided in the early days of President Trump’s administration and reiterated that Israel is contemplating such strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Given their complexity, an Israeli attack on Iran’s strongly guarded nuclear sites would probably require U.S. military assistance and munitions, according to U.S. military officials.
Requests for reaction from Israel’s military and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office were not answered.
Israeli leaders have indicated time and again that there is a chance to take more forceful action against Iran.
Iran has previously pledged a major retribution if its nuclear installations were attacked, but Israel’s assaults on its conventional military sites last year, along with the severe losses sustained by its regional proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have severely undermined Tehran.
Some members of Trump’s team pondered the feasibility of Israel carrying out preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the presidential transition, including enlisting American forces to accompany Israeli aircraft in a bombing campaign.
Trump has stated that he favors a negotiated solution as his new term in office begins.
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