Israel prepares possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, says source

The US has obtained new intelligence information suggesting that Israel is preparing to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, even with the Trump government seeking a diplomatic agreement with Tehran, they told the CNN Several American authorities familiar with the latest information.

Such an attack would be a break with President Donald Trump, US officials said. It could also trigger a broader regional conflict in the Middle East – something the US has sought to avoid since the war in Gaza has increased tensions from 2023.

Authorities warn that it is unclear whether Israeli leaders have made a final decision and that, in fact, there is a profound disagreement within the US government about Israel’s likelihood.

If and how Israel will attack you are likely to depend on what you think of US negotiations with Tehran about your nuclear program.

But “the chance of an Israeli attack on an Iranian nuclear installation has increased significantly in recent months,” said another familiar person with American intelligence on the subject.

“And the prospect of an agreement between the US and Iran negotiated by Trump that does not remove the entire Iranian uranium increases the chance of an attack,” he added.

Increasing concerns derive not only from public and private messages from senior Israeli officials that the country is considering such a measure, but also of intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements that may suggest an imminent attack, several sources familiar with intelligence said.

Among the US military preparations are the air ammunition movement and the completion of an air exercise, two of the sources said.

But these same indicators can also be simply Israel trying to press Iran to abandon important principles of its nuclear program, signaling the consequences if it does not – emphasizing the constantly changing complexities with which the White House is dealing.

THE CNN He requested comments from the National Security Council and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The embassy of Israel in Washington did not comment.

Trump publicly threatened with military actions against Iran if his government’s efforts to negotiate a new nuclear agreement to limit or eliminate Tehran’s nuclear program failed. But Trump also set a limit to the time the US would remain involved in diplomatic efforts.

In a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in mid-March, Trump set a 60-day deadline for these efforts to be successful, according to a source familiar with communication. More than 60 days have passed since the delivery of the letter and 38 days since the beginning of the first round of negotiations.

A senior western diplomat who met with the US president earlier this month said Trump reported that the US would only give a few weeks for these negotiations to be successful before resorting to military attacks. But for now, the White House policy is that of diplomacy.

This placed Israel “between the cross and the sword,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a former special intelligence employee in the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure both to avoid a US-straight agreement that Israel does not consider satisfactory and not to alienate Trump-who has already broken with Israeli Prime Minister on security issues in the region.

“In the end, Israeli decision making will be based on US determinations and political actions and agreements that President Trump does with Iran,” Panikoff said, adding not to believe Netanyahu would be willing to completely break his relationship with the US launching an attack without at least the tacit approval of the US.

Iran in its weaker moment in decades

Iran is in its weaker military position in decades, after the Israeli bombardment of its missile and air defense production facilities in October, combined with an economy weakened by sanctions and the decimation of its most powerful regional representatives by Israel.

Israel, American authorities say, sees a window of opportunity.

The US is intensifying intelligence collection to be prepared to assist if Israeli leaders decide to attack, a high American employee told CNN .

But a source familiar with the Trump government’s policy told the CNN that the US is unlikely to help Israel make attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities at this time, unless there is a significant provocation from Tehran.

Israel is unable to destroy the Iranian nuclear program without American assistance, including flying replenishment and the necessary pumps to penetrate underground facilities, a necessity that is also reflected in previous US intelligence reports, according to a source familiar with the issue.

An Israeli source said to CNN That Israel would be prepared to carry out a military action on their own if the US negotiated what this source described as a “bad deal” with Iran, something Israel cannot accept.

“I think they are more likely to attack to try to make the deal failing if they think Trump will be content with a bad deal,” said the other source familiar with American intelligence. “The Israelis have not hesitated to signal us … both public and privately.”

An assessment of the February American Intelligence suggested that Israel could use military aircraft or long -range missiles to capitalize on Iran’s degraded air defense capabilities, said the CNN previously.

But the same assessment also described how such attacks would only minimally impair the Iranian nuclear program and would not be a definitive solution.

“It’s a real challenge for Netanyahu,” said Panikoff.

For now, US negotiations with Iran are stagnant in the requirement that Tehran does not enrich uranium, a process that can allow the development of nuclear weapons, but is also necessary for nuclear energy production for civil purposes.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff, who leads the American delegation, told ABC News over the weekend that Washington “can’t even allow 1% of enrichment capacity” under an agreement. “We deliver a proposal to the Iranians that we believe it approaches this without disrespecting them,” he said.

Khamenei said on Tuesday that he does not expect negotiations with the United States about the Tehran nuclear program “come to a conclusion,” calling the US requirement that Iran does not enrich the uranium of a “big mistake.”

Iran insists that it has the right to enrich under the treaty of nuclear non -proliferation of the United Nations and states that it will not give up this right under any circumstances.

Another round of negotiations may occur in Europe this week, according to Witkoff. Both the US and Iran presented proposals, but after more than a month of conversations facilitated by Oman, there are no current American proposal with Trump’s approval, sources said.

In February, US intelligence agencies issued alerts that Israel will probably try to attack essential facilities for the Iranian nuclear program later this year, the CNN previously.

The Israeli position has been “consistently that the military option is the only option to stop Iran’s Military Nuclear Program,” observed an American authority.

This content was originally published in Israel prepares possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, says source on CNN Brazil.

Source: CNN Brasil