Iran was merely weeks away from being able to produce a nuclear bomb, with scientists reportedly completing successful experiments in the weapon design process, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
According to Army Radio, Israeli intelligence gathered what it described as "golden information" revealing that Iranian nuclear scientists made significant progress toward assembling a nuclear weapon. The intelligence was shared with the country's political leadership right before the country launched strikes at Iran on June 13.
Unnamed security officials cited in the report said Iran assembled groups of scientists in late 2023 or early 2024 to secretly work on different stages of turning enriched nuclear material into a bomb. The intelligence suggested Iran's nuclear programme advanced further than publicly known.
This weaponisation effort reportedly ran parallel to Iran's uranium enrichment, which has already surpassed civilian-use levels. A recent International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran's uranium stockpile could if further enriched, be sufficient to produce nine nuclear weapons.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) monitored this secret project and concluded that Iran made the strategic decision to develop a nuclear bomb following the October 7 attack in southern Israel. "All the scientists eliminated in the opening strikes had, over the years, been involved in developing the nuclear detonation device," a senior Israeli military official said Saturday, as per The Times Of Israel.
The IDF's offensive, codenamed Operation 'Rising Lion', targeted several nuclear and military facilities, including the headquarters of Iran's Defense Ministry and the SPND nuclear project. Israel also claimed to have struck a facility believed to house parts of Iran's secret nuclear archive.
In the opening wave of attacks, the IDF assassinated nine Iranian nuclear scientists, all described as having decades of experience in nuclear weapons development. The military said they were successors to Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, widely regarded as the architect of Iran's nuclear programme, who was allegedly killed by Israel in 2020.
Iran responded with ballistic missile barrages on Friday and Saturday, killing at least seven people. Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli and U.S. air defence systems.
On Sunday, sirens sounded in cities across Israel, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as Iran launched another wave of missiles, targeting energy infrastructure and fighter jet fuel facilities. In Tehran, booms were heard as air defences engaged incoming threats.
"This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that the military action was necessary to "roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival."
US President Donald Trump has urged Tehran to negotiate on its nuclear programme. "Iran must make a deal before there is nothing left," he said.
