Within “7 Hours”, Israel Could Strike Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

Defence affairs (sumit ahlawat)

Even as US President Donald Trump is close to a historic nuclear deal with Iran, Washington is increasingly nervous that Israel could launch an attack on the Iranian nuclear program without much warning.

Israel could launch an attack alone on the Iranian nuclear sites in as little as seven hours, the New York Times reported, citing senior US intelligence officials.

This would give the Trump administration little time to attempt to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change his mind.

Such an attack would effectively kill the nuclear deal and the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran. The US intelligence officials reportedly doubt if a unilateral strike by Israel will be able to achieve its objective. However, they believe that an Iranian counter-attack would force the US to come to Israel’s support.

According to the report, Israeli officials have told Washington that a strike could be carried out even if a nuclear agreement is reached between the US and Iran.

The report has once again raised fears that Israel could launch a unilateral attack on Iran to sabotage the deal.

Notably, this is not the first time that such reports have emerged in the Western media or even in the New York Times, ascribing such motives to Israel, that Netanyahu is planning to attack Iranian Nuclear Sites on his own.

In fact, such reports have been a regular feature in the Western press over the last year.

In September last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had sent “clear messages” to Iran through backchannels, warning that any attack on Israeli territory would prompt a response, potentially targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Further, in October, the USA Today and Forbes reported that Israel was weighing its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack, with nuclear sites among the potential targets.

In February this year, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported once again that the US intelligence officials concluded during the final days of the Biden administration that Israel was considering significant strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025, aiming to take advantage of Iran’s weakness.

Last month, the New York Times reported that Israel had planned a joint strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities with U.S. support as early as May 2025, but President Trump blocked the plan in favor of diplomatic talks.

These frequent and regular reports in Western media give the impression that an Israeli strike on Iranian Nuclear facilities, with or without US support, is imminent and can happen anytime.

The question then arises, why Israel has not launched these strikes till now, despite the supposed ‘weakness’ of Iran at this juncture?

The question also arises whether these multiple media reports, all based on anonymous intelligence officials, are appearing in the media at regular intervals under a specific agenda.

This question assumes even more significance when viewed in the context of multiple opportunities Israel had to attack Iranian nuclear sites in the last year.