Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present plans for a possible attack against Iran to US President Donald Trump during the premier’s upcoming visit to the country, NBC News reports, citing several unnamed officials.
According to the report, Israel is growing increasingly concerned that Iran is rebuilding, and even expanding, its ballistic missile production in the wake of the 12-day war in June.
Israel is also worried that Iran is rebuilding its nuclear enrichment program, which was heavily damaged by Israeli, and later US, strikes, the report adds.
While Israel has publicly called Iran’s nuclear program an existential threat, officials quoted in the report say that the ballistic missiles are seen by Jerusalem as a more pressing concern.
“The nuclear weapons program is very concerning. There’s an attempt to reconstitute. It’s not that immediate,” a source with knowledge of Israel’s plans tells NBC News.
“But the threat of the missiles is very real, and we weren’t able to prevent them all last time,” another source says.
Netanyahu and Trump are expected to meet at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida next week.
Israel declines to comment on the report.
Responding to NBC News, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly says: “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.”
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