Netanyahu reinstates working groups on Iranian nuclear program: Axios
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"Israel" and the US are worried that Iran might attempt to advance its nuclear technology, including weaponization efforts, in the lead-up to the US presidential elections.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Sheba Tel HaShomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, on Saturday, June 8, 2024. (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinstated a couple of weeks ago working groups comprising members of "Israel's" security establishment, Foreign Ministry, and intelligence community to focus on Iran's nuclear program, Axios reported, citing three senior Israeli officials.
Both "Israel" and the United States are worried that Iran might attempt to advance its nuclear technology, including weaponization efforts, in the lead-up to the US presidential elections, two Israeli and two US officials indicated.
Israeli and American officials pointed out that the US might struggle to respond promptly to any Iranian nuclear advances during this period due to leaders’ divided attention between the presidential campaign and the ongoing war on Gaza.
The officials added that there is concern that Iranian leaders might exploit the post-election transition period in the US to make a significant move toward acquiring a nuclear weapon.
An American official told Axios that the US intelligence community believes Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon but has engaged in "provocative" nuclear activities "that will not go unchallenged."
Axios reported last week that, in recent months, Israeli and US intelligence communities have been investigating new information suggesting that Iran is allegedly conducting activities related to the development of nuclear weapons.
Senior Israeli officials revealed that the Israeli entity is concerned that computer modeling and other scientific experiments by Iranian scientists could facilitate nuclear weaponization, potentially shortening the timeline if Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian leader and the leader of the Islamic Revolution, allegedly orders a push toward a nuclear bomb.
It is noteworthy that Iran has repeatedly underlined that its nuclear program only serves peaceful purposes and that nuclear weapons have no place in its nuclear doctrine. In the early 2000s, Sayyed Khamenei issued a religious decree banning the development of nuclear weapons.
Israeli officials and a senior US official confirmed that Iran's nuclear program was a key topic during Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant's meetings in Washington this week with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
"We are on it 24\7 and are consulting with Israel on this issue all the time," the American official indicated, adding that "Iran will never get a nuclear weapon" and that the Biden administration "will make sure this is the case."
Axios reported that Yaakov Nagel, Netanyahu’s former "National Security" Advisor and now a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, claimed that several dozen Iranian scientists have been working on the technical processes necessary for building an atomic bomb "under an academic umbrella."
According to senior Israeli officials, Netanyahu’s directive to his Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi to re-establish these teams followed a period of about a year and a half during which the working groups were inactive.
They highlighted that, during this time, there was almost no coordination on Iran's nuclear concerns under the "National Security" Council in the Prime Minister's Office, a customary practice under previous governments.
Two former Israeli officials briefed on the situation told the news website that the Iranian nuclear issue had not been addressed seriously by Netanyahu since his return to office in December 2022, initially due to his focus on the judicial overhaul and later because of the war on Gaza.
