PM: Iran would already have nuke if we didn’t attack, Israel ‘smashed’ its nuclear and missile programs

Israel decided to go to war with Iran in February because it “was very close to achieving a nuclear weapon” and to gaining the ability to produce thousands of missiles, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

If Israel hadn’t attacked Iran twice in the past year, he says, the Islamic Republic “would already have a nuclear weapon.”

He says that Israel had intelligence last year Iran was preparing to turn its enriched uranium into a nuclear weapon.

“The moment we received that intelligence, we went into action,” he says.

Netanyahu says that only months later, he received new intelligence that Iran wanted to expand its missile and nuclear projects, and bury them deep underground.

Israel killed eight nuclear scientists dealing with weaponization in Operation Roaring Lion, he says, adding that Israel also destroyed the heavy water reactor in Arak and Iran’s centrifuge production and uranium lines.

“We succeeded in smashing its nuclear program, in smashing its missile program,” he says.

Beyond “smashing” its nuclear and missile programs, Israel also wanted to “smash the Iranian regime,” says Netanyahu, to bring it “to its weakest point” since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

He says Israel had “massive achievements” in Operation Roaring Lion, claiming that Iran is “begging for a ceasefire, there are internal disputes among the leadership… We see their growing difficulty to meet citizens’ demands.”