Iran’s nuclear program

Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, on October 19, 2021. (Noam Mushkovitz/Knesset Spokesperson)

Defending budget increase, Gantz says IDF needs funds to fight off looming Iran

Defense minister appears before Knesset committee, warns Iran nearly a ‘threshold state,’ after cabinet reportedly allocates NIS 5 billion for potential strike on nuke program

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, (left) speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on Monday, October 18, 2021, in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department in Washington, ahead of a meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

October 19, 2021, 8:07 pm

UN nuclear watchdog heading back to Iran for talks in coming weeks

IAEA head Rafael Grossi will look to resolve a number of issues regarding Tehran’s program, including suspended monitoring; unsure if agency will condemn nuke deal violations

By Matthew Lee

October 19, 2021, 7:37 pm

Defending budget increase, Gantz says IDF needs funds to fight off looming Iran

Defense minister appears before Knesset committee, warns Iran nearly a ‘threshold state,’ after cabinet reportedly allocates NIS 5 billion for potential strike on nuke program

By Judah Ari Gross

An Israeli Air Force F-15 takes off during the Blue Flag air exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 8, 2017. (Jack Guez/AFP)

October 19, 2021, 12:58 am

Israel said to approve $1.5 billion budget for potential strike on Iran

Sum said to include funds for aircraft, intel-gathering drones and unique armaments needed for attack; report comes days after US announces successful test of new bunker buster

By TOI staff

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks as he attends a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Ukraine, at the European Council building in Brussels, on April 19, 2021. (Francois Walschaerts, Pool via AP)

October 15, 2021, 11:10 pm

EU czar agrees to discuss nuke talks with Iran, but warns clock is ticking

Josep Borrell says he’ll hold pre-negotiation sit-down as part of ‘strategic patience’ policy, but hopes actual talks resume soon; dismisses Israeli push for other options

By AFP

From left: Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan take part in a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, on October 13, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/AFP/via Getty Images)

October 14, 2021, 11:06 pm

Blinken and Lapid discussed options for Iran not previously on table — official

Diplomatic official says FM warned secretary that reopening US consulate in Jerusalem would have significant implications on coalition, defends ties with China amid US pushback

By Jacob Magid

Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, right, presents ranks to a new intelligence officer during a ceremony on October 13, 2021. (Israel Defense Forces)

October 14, 2021, 1:51 pm

IDF Intel chief: Iran enriching ever more nuke material, but we’ll constrain it

Maj. Gen. Haliva tells intelligence officers Tehran is looking to challenge Israel’s military superiority, as Washington, Jerusalem consider how to confront its nuclear ambitions

By Judah Ari Gross

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the Jerusalem Post conference in Jerusalem, October 12, 2021 (Kobi Gideon, GPO)

October 12, 2021, 1:05 pm

Bennett warns: There are non-peaceful ways to deal with Iran’s nuclear program

PM calls on world powers to hold Tehran accountable; World Jewish Congress head says Likud aiding Tehran by refusing to cooperate with new government

By Lazar Berman

German Chancellor Angela Merkel rekindles the eternal flame at the Hall of Remembrance in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

October 10, 2021, 4:54 pm

Merkel on farewell trip: Israel’s security will always be a priority for Germany

Ahead of Yad Vashem visit, outgoing chancellor says it’s ‘moving’ that the Jewish state has come to trust post-WWII Germany, but ‘trust always has to prove itself’

By Lazar Berman and AFP

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi speaks at a ceremony on the Israel Navy's Haifa Base, on September 2, 2021. (Israel Defense Forces)

October 5, 2021, 8:04 pm

IDF chief vows Israel will further target Iran, including its nuclear program

‘Operations to destroy Iranian capabilities will continue,’ Aviv Kohavi says; outgoing intel chief: Islamic Republic is stable but history shows ‘what becomes of such dark regimes’

By TOI staff

The alleged Karaj centrifuge parts plant near Karaj, Iran, seen in a photo posted online by Google user Edward Majnoonian, in May 2019. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

October 5, 2021, 3:59 pm

Iran urges UN watchdog to condemn nuclear site ‘sabotage’ it blames on Israel

Iranian atomic agency chief tells IAEA that Karaj site was ‘severely damaged’ in June attack that Tehran previously said it thwarted

By AFP

From left, US Fifth Fleet commander Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US charge d'affaires in Bahrain Maggie Nardi, and Bahrain's FM Abdullatif al Zayani in front of the USS Pearl Harbor in Manama, September 20 2021 (Shlomi Amsalem GPO)

October 1, 2021, 7:20 pm

On Lapid’s Bahrain visit, a photo op at a US Navy base meant for Iranian eyes

There were many encouraging signs from Yair Lapid’s trip to Manama Thursday, but the tripartite display of unity at the US Fifth Fleet base is what Tehran will notice

By Lazar Berman

In this photo released Jan. 8, 2021, commanders of Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps walk past missiles during a visit to a new military base in an undisclosed location. (Sepahnews via AP)

October 1, 2021, 4:16 pm

Why Israel is stepping up its planning, and its rhetoric, for a strike on Iran

For perhaps 3 years after the JCPOA was inked, Israel essentially discarded its operational planning and capability to decimate Iran’s nuclear facilities. That’s all changed now

By David Horovitz

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. (Wikipedia, Shekko, CC BY-SA 3.0)

September 29, 2021, 6:30 pm

Norway charges professor with violating nuclear sanctions on Iran

German-Iranian instructor at university in Trondheim accused of giving guest researchers access to ‘knowledge that could be useful to Iran’s nuclear program’

By AP

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 27, 2021, at UN headquarters in New York. (John Minchillo/Pool/AFP)

September 27, 2021, 5:45 pm

At UN, Bennett hints at action on Iran: ‘Words don’t stop centrifuges spinning’

In first address to General Assembly, PM says Israel ‘pioneered’ COVID booster shots, hails his government as model for ‘debate without hate’; no mention of Palestinians

By Lazar Berman

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (C) meets with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa al-Marar, (R) and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani (L) at his hotel in New York on Sunday evening. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

September 27, 2021, 2:51 am

Bennett tells UAE, Bahrain ministers: Jordan and Egypt are ‘delighted’ with ties

Meeting with senior Gulf officials in New York ahead of his UN speech, prime minister promises stability and continuity in relations; UAE expects trade to top $1 billion this year

By Lazar Berman