Iran was dangerously close to making a nuclear bomb; tried to deceive US by entering talks: Israel

As Israel launches a "preemptive strike" on Iranian military leadership and its nuclear and missile facilities, an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson has said how close the Islamic Republic was to making nuclear weapons. Israel had no other choice but to attack, he added.

The spokesperson said that intelligence reports accumulated over the last few months suggesting that the Iranian regime was "approaching the point of no return". 

"We are revealing for the first time that the Islamic Republic had recently conducted tests that could allow it to create a nuclear weapon in a short and immediate time," he was quoted by Hebrew news website JDN. 

"As part of its nuclear programme, senior nuclear scientists in Iran worked to secretly advance all the parts required to build a nuclear weapon. In recent months, there has been an acceleration in the programme that brought the Iranian regime significantly closer to obtaining nuclear weapons. There is unequivocal proof - the Iranian regime is working to obtain nuclear weapons," the spokesman concluded. "The State of Israel has no choice - the IDF has a duty to act to protect the citizens of Israel and we will continue to do so," it added. 

Meanwhile, the London-based Iranian website Iran International quoted a senior Israeli officer who said Iran was deceiving the US by entering the negotiations to buy time while continuing to enrich uranium. "If Iran had entered the negotiations with honest intentions, Israel would not have attacked," he said.  

He said Iran can sign a deal, or it can accept continued attacks that will endanger the stability of its regime. "The Iranians are currently in shock, their military leadership is virtually non-existent, and there are still more surprises to come," he said, adding that Israel has not targeted the Iranian people but their Iranian government. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz told members of the General Staff Forum  before the attack on Iran that the IDF was "launching an operation against the head of the Iranian octopus to thwart its capabilities and remove the threats of annihilation from the State of Israel."

"When I took office, I defined as my top goal the prevention of the Iranian nuclear program. Iran is more determined than ever to realise its vision of destroying Israel. We are at a key point where, if we miss it, we will have no way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons that would threaten our existence.  We have dealt with Iran's proxies over the past year and a half, but now we are dealing with the head of the snake itself," Katz added.