Israel to Brief Trump on New Iran Strikes

A source with knowledge on the matter, as well as former US officials, told NBC that Jerusalem believes Iran’s renewed production of ballistic missiles could increase to 3,000 per year if left unchecked.

Such an arsenal, in addition to threatening Israel, could serve as a deterrent against Israeli action to act against the Islamic Republic’s proxies in the region, or against its nuclear program.

Israel launched its war against Iran in June, targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and citing an imminent existential threat to the Jewish state.

Over 12 days, successive waves of airstrikes killed Iranian nuclear scientists, took out much of the supply and production capacity for the missile program, and damaged uranium enrichment sites, with the US joining in the last days to take out underground nuclear facilities that only heavy bunker-buster bombs could penetrate.

Iran said over 1,000 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the war. It retaliated by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel, which killed 32 people and wounded over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals.

In all, Israel suffered 36 missile impacts and one drone strike in populated areas, causing damage to 2,305 homes in 240 buildings, along with two universities and a hospital, and leaving over 13,000 Israelis displaced.

During the February meeting, Netanyahu presented Trump with four options on what an attack on Iran could look like, according to the report. The four scenarios were an exclusively Israeli attack, an attack led by Israel with minimal US help, full collaboration, and a US-led assault.

Israeli officials are concerned that Iran, leaning on its missile program as a deterrent, could fast-track an effort to reconstitute its nuclear program, NBC reported.

Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” by the US strikes. Other assessments, including those by American and Israeli intelligence agencies, have been more cautious, estimating that the program was set back years or even just months, rather than destroyed entirely.

Iran, which regularly calls for the destruction of Israel, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. When the war began, Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.