Israel launched its missile barrage on Iran this week because the theocratic regime was on the brink of building a crude nuclear device, experts said.
Iran was pulling together materials “in a secret place near Tehran to make a primitive warhead,” Beni Sabti of the Institute of National Security Studies told Fox News Digital, the likely impetus for Israel’s launch of “Operation Rising Lion” — a plan that has been ready to go since April.
Tehran also recently announced that it had built and would activate a third nuclear enrichment facility — prompting the UN’s atomic watchdog agency to censure Iran.
Experts further claim that Iran has recently continued a concerning level of weapons production.
“Iran reactivated an explosives manufacturing line, which could only be used to help that needed nuclear weapon… efforts to put the fissile material into a shape which could be used for a nuclear weapon — that was reactivated as well,” Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, told Fox.
Just hours before Israel’s historic strike Thursday, Iran announced the creation of a new enrichment facility, and the beefing up of existing enrichment operations, in a defiant response to a UN watchdog’s report that censured the nation for shirking nonproliferation agreements.
“The President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has issued necessary directives for launching a new enrichment facility in a secure location,” the statement issued jointly by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and AEO on Thursday read.
“And replacing first-generation centrifuges at the Martyr Ali Mohammadi (Fordo) enrichment center with advanced sixth-generation machines.”
Later that same day, Israel launched its onslaught — striking key nuclear infrastructure sites across Iran, including in Tehran, in an attack that targeted the “heart” of Iran’s weaponization program, according to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu revealed that Israel has been prepared to strike Iran since April — after issuing such threats for the past 20 years — and that the plans were conceived to address the “clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”
Earlier Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, passed a resolution declaring Iran in non-compliance with nuclear non-proliferation agreements — the first resolution against Iran in 20 years.
The resolution was put forth by the United States, Britain, France and Germany and passed with 19 out of 35 votes with only Russia, China and Burkina Faso voting against the condemnation.
Of the remainder, 11 nations abstained and two did not vote.
IAEA alleged that Iran has consistently failed to demonstrate to agency inspectors that its nuclear material was not being diverted for military use, United Nations news reported.
The agency wrote in the statement that it found man-made uranium particles at three sites in Iran during inspections in 2020 and 2019 — and that the nation has repeatedly failed to explain their presence and even attempted to sanitize the facilities to forestall investigators.
Iran has further stockpiled over 881 pounds of highly enriched uranium which the IAEA stated was “of serious concern and adds to the complexity” of the issues.
Iran condemned the IAEA’s report and resolution as “highly politicized and biased” and suggested the resolution was a stain on the watchdog’s reputation.
“The move by these four countries severely undermines the credibility and standing of the IAEA, further exposing the politicized nature of the international body,” Thursday’s statement from the MoFA and AEO read.
President Trump is imploring Iran to make a deal on its nuclear energy program following the failure to come to terms in recent weeks.
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!,” the president concluded.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted the recently offered nuclear deal in a television address last week, calling US leaders “arrogant” and the stipulated terms of the deal “100% against” the interests of Tehran.
A sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US were set to take place Sunday in Oman.
Following Israel’s airstrikes Thursday on Iranian nuclear sites, the IAEA issued a statement condemning the attacks.
“This development is deeply concerning. I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment,” IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi, said in a statement Friday.
“Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security,” Grossi added.
The agency reported it was in contact with Iranian nuclear officials and that there have been no reports of elevated radiation levels near the Natanz enrichment site, which was targeted in Thursday’s bombings.