Israel has reportedly set back Iran’s presumed deadly ambitions to possess a nuclear bomb by at least two years through its ongoing military strikes, according to senior Israeli officials.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a Saturday interview that Israeli intelligence believes the airstrikes have delayed Iran’s nuclear progress significantly.
“According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Saar told German outlet Bild. “We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat.”
This announcement comes as international pressure builds around the escalating Israel-Iran conflict, which began on June 13 when Israel launched a series of strikes on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure.
Since then, the violence has spiraled, pulling in regional powers and raising alarm in Western capitals.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who’s been closely monitoring the conflict, warned just a day earlier that Iran has “a maximum of two weeks” to avoid potential American military action.
“If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” Trump said, hinting that the U.S. is unlikely to press Israel to halt its campaign just to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
On Saturday, Israel confirmed its air force had carried out new raids on what it described as missile storage and launch sites in central Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian forces have fired back with hundreds of missiles and drones, with Israeli authorities reporting over 450 missile launches and 400 drone attacks so far.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say their response has been focused on Israeli military facilities and air bases.
But the strikes have also caused civilian casualties on both sides.
In Iran, a U.S.-based NGO, Human Rights Activists News Agency, reported at least 657 deaths, including 263 civilians.
Israel says 25 people have been killed by Iranian attacks, with dozens more injured, including in Haifa where 19 people were hospitalized on Friday.
Attempts at diplomacy have hit a dead end. On Friday, European diplomats from the UK, France, and Germany met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, urging him to return to nuclear talks.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said:“We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for.”
But Araghchi rejected the offer. “We’re not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues,” he told NBC News.
Trump dismissed Europe’s diplomatic push altogether.
“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has flagged Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 60% purity, a level no non-nuclear weapons state has reached.
Still, the agency said there’s no clear evidence Iran possesses all the necessary components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi called timelines for Iran to develop a bomb “pure speculation.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned the situation was reaching a “perilous moment” and urged all sides to avoid regional escalation.
Meanwhile, Araghchi has arrived in Istanbul for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is expected to discuss the unfolding conflict.
In a sign of increasing concern, Switzerland has temporarily shut its embassy in Tehran, but announced it will continue to represent U.S. interests in Iran.
