Israel’s conflict with Iran is not about nuclear arms

(MENAFN) Claims by Israel, the United States, and their European allies that their military actions against Iran are “pre-emptive” strikes to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons are unfounded and echo the false justifications used to invade Iraq in 2003. Critics argue that this campaign against Iran is just as illegal under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been warning for nearly 40 years that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear bomb, yet every effort to create nuclear agreements—like the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal—has been undermined by Israel and its lobbying networks in the West.

Despite Israeli and American rhetoric, no concrete evidence has been presented to show that Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. The assertion, without proof, resembles the unfounded claims about weapons of mass destruction that led to the Iraq War.

In March, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that Iran had not resumed its nuclear weapons program, which was halted in 2003. She said the intelligence community still assesses that Iran is not building a bomb, and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not reauthorized such efforts.

Furthermore, Iran was engaged in indirect talks with the U.S. to renegotiate the 2015 Nuclear Deal—until the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed severe sanctions on Iran, influenced largely by Israeli pressure.

Although Netanyahu and Trump claim Iran violated the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Tehran was in full compliance at the time.

Opposition to the nuclear deal from Israeli and neoconservative circles often centers less on nuclear concerns and more on Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and support for regional armed groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, which are aligned with the Palestinian cause.

Ultimately, Israel’s real concern appears to be Iran’s regional influence, not nuclear weapons. Israel lacks the military capability to eliminate Iran’s entire nuclear infrastructure, much of which is protected deep inside mountains. Even the U.S., with its advanced bunker-buster bombs and B-2 bombers, has failed to destroy similarly fortified sites—such as missile bases in Yemen—raising doubts about the feasibility of destroying Iran’s nuclear program by force.

MENAFN21062025000045015687ID1109703234