Highlighting Progress Of Iran's Nuclear Program, Israel's Highest General Calls Actions

JAKARTA - Israel's top general raised the prospect of "action" against Iran on Tuesday, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser downplaying the direct threat posed by an underground nuclear facility being worked on by Tehran.

Attempts by world powers to negotiate new restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment, as well as other potential bomb-making projects have so far been fruitless. This triggers a long-standing threat by Israel to use force if diplomacy is deemed deadlocked.

"Iran has advanced further with uranium enrichment than ever before... There are negative developments on the horizon that may lead to (military) action," Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a speech, reported by Reuters, May 24.

However, he did not elaborate further on what developments might occur, or what actions might be taken and by whom.

"We have the capability and the other side has the capability," Lt. Gen. Halevi told the Herzliya Conference, an international security forum, in an apparent allusion to Israel's ally, the United States.

Experts are divided on whether Israel's military has the power to deal permanent damage to Iran's distant, scattered, and defended nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, Iran denies having the bomb and vows "severe retaliation" for any attack.

There has been speculation that Israel will use countries on Iran's borders as springboards for attacks. One of the bordering countries, Azerbaijan, has dismissed the idea despite strong ties to Israel.

"We refrain from interfering in (other countries') disputes or matters, including by allowing or giving away our territory for some operations or escapades," Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev told the conference.

Earlier, the Associated Press on Monday reported that Iran was building a new underground site in the Zagros Mountains, to replace a uranium centrifuge center at Natanz that was hit by an explosion and fire in July 2020.

"This of course limits the capacity to carry out strikes, compared to above-ground facilities, which are of course easier. But what can be said about this is that there is no place that is inaccessible," said Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi at the conference.

Following the 2020 incident, Iran announced in 2021 that it was looking to move some of its centrifugal production rooms to the "heart of the mountain near Natanz", an area where Iranian engineers have been doing work for a long time.

Hanegbi declined to explicitly threaten an Israeli strike, assessing responsibility for the United States, noting they had very large GBU-43/B bombs not in Israel's arsenal.

However, Hanegbi added, "this underground facility near Natanz is still many years away from completion".

Although Washington prefers to pursue diplomacy with Iran, the allies see "eye to eye" and have no significant differences about potential "red lines" for final military action, he said.