PM Netanyahu Says Israel Is Almost Achieved Its Goals In Attacking Iran

PM Netanyahu at the F15 Israeli fighter jet base. (Source: GPO/Kobi Gideon)

JAKARTA - Israel is nearing its goal of eliminating the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles and nuclear programs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

PM Netanyahu vowed not to let Israel be dragged into a tiring war, but would not end Israel's campaign in Iran before time.

"We will not take our actions beyond what is needed to achieve it, but we will also not finish it too quickly. When the goal is achieved, the operation is complete and fighting will stop," he told Israeli journalists.

"I have no doubt this is a regime that wants to destroy us, and that is why we started this operation to eliminate two concrete threats to our existence: nuclear threats, ballistic missile threats. We are moving step by step towards achieving this goal. We are very, very close to resolving it," said PM Netanyhu.

He further said Iran's Fordow nuclear site had been badly damaged by the US bunker-destroying bomb, but its damage toll remains invisible.

Tehran itself has pledged to defend itself at all costs.

When asked about the presence of 60 percent enriched Iranian uranium, PM Netanyahu said: "We have followed those developments very closely. I can tell you that it is an important component of the nuclear program."

"It's not the only component. It's not a sufficient component. However, it's an important component and we have interesting information about it, which you'll forgive if I don't share it with you," explained PM Netanyahu.

At least until Israel's first attack on its enrichment installation on June 13, Iran refined uranium to 60 percent purity, one step closer than about 90 percent which is a bomb level and much higher than the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), which Iran obeyed until a year after President Donald Trump brought the United States out of the deal in 2018.