Israel considers special operation against Iran's nuclear facility if US refuses an airstrike - Axios
Kyiv • UNN
Israeli officials are considering options other than airstrikes on Iran, including a special forces raid on the uranium enrichment facility in Fordo. While US President Donald Trump doubts the effectiveness of bombs against fortified targets, Israel is preparing to act alone.
As US President Donald Trump weighs whether to join Israel in striking Iran, considering the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo as one of the main targets, Israeli officials are considering options besides airstrikes, including a special forces raid on the facility, Axios reports, citing sources, writes UNN.
Details
The publication notes that if Trump goes to war, he will "almost certainly destroy the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, which is built into a mountain south of Tehran."
Israeli officials believe Trump will decide in favor of a US strike, but claim they can inflict significant damage on the Fordo facility even if they have to act alone.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter have hinted in recent interviews that the Israel Defense Forces have options beyond airstrikes.
"One of these could be a risky commando raid. Israeli special forces carried out such an operation in September last year, albeit on a smaller scale, when they destroyed an underground missile factory in Syria by planting and detonating explosives," the publication states.
Now that Israel has full control of Iran's airspace and has dealt a heavy blow to the Iranian military, this option seems less extreme than it might otherwise have been, the publication notes.
A US official said that the Israelis had informed the Trump administration that while they might not be able to penetrate deep enough into the mountain with bombs, they could "do it with people."
Meanwhile, Axios writes, citing advisers to the US President, that Trump is considering one key question: if the US joins Israel in war and drops its massive bunker-buster missiles, will they actually destroy Iran's most fortified nuclear facility. These doubts of Trump about the certainty of success, it is claimed, were one of the reasons on Wednesday why he was still hesitant to strike.
Trump wants to ensure that such an attack is truly necessary, whether it will draw the US into a protracted war in the Middle East - and, most importantly, whether it will truly achieve the goal of destroying Iran's nuclear program, US officials say.
"We will be ready to strike Iran. We are not yet convinced that we are needed. And we want to be not needed, but I think the President is not yet convinced that we are needed," said a US representative.
Trump specifically asked his military advisors if the MOP bunker-buster bomb would destroy Fordo, one US official said. Pentagon officials told Trump they were confident it would happen, according to an official. But it is unclear if Trump was fully convinced.
As Axios notes, Trump held another Situation Room meeting on Wednesday with his national security team regarding the war between Israel and Iran.
"The President's patience is running out by the minute. The clock is really ticking for Iran, and all options are on the table," said a US official.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation, writes that senior US officials are preparing for a possible strike on Iran "in the coming days."
The situation is still developing and may change, sources said. Some of the people pointed to potential plans for a weekend strike. Heads of several federal agencies have also begun preparing for an attack, one person said.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he had "ideas on what to do" and that he preferred to make the "final decision at the last second" as the situation in the Middle East is unstable.
A White House spokesperson said all options remain on the table.
The anticipation of several days before a strike gives Iranian leaders an additional opportunity to demonstrate to Trump that they are willing to abandon some uranium enrichment capabilities to deter a US attack, the publication explains.
At the same time, as Axios writes, US officials said that Trump believes that the ambiguity of his decisions puts greater pressure on Iran.
