World News | Israel’s NSA chief: Iran’s new nuclear facility is not safe from attack

JERUSALEM, May 23 (AP) — The Israeli government’s national security adviser said Tuesday that a new nuclear facility Iran is building will not be immune to attack, despite expert assessments that the facility would be beyond the last-ditch U.S. bunker bomb attack scope.

Tzachi Hanegbi made the comments in response to an Associated Press report that said the new facility appeared to be as deep as 100 meters (328 feet) underground.

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Speaking at a security conference near Tel Aviv, Hanegby said he was not surprised by the report, noting that Iran had other underground facilities. While he acknowledged the location would complicate any potential military strike on the facility, he said there were still solutions to the challenge.

“There’s nothing impossible to say about this,” he said.

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He declined to say whether Israel was capable of doing it alone.

“We hope we don’t get into a situation where the solution to the Iran nuclear weapons story is a kinetic solution, a solution that involves an attack,” he said, adding that Israel would prefer to see the international standoff with Iran resolved through diplomacy.

Israel considers Iran its worst enemy, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. He has said international diplomacy should be accompanied by serious military options and suggested Israel would be prepared to strike Iran on its own if necessary.

Photos and video from Planet Labs PBC’s new Iranian facility show that Iran has been digging tunnels near the Natanz nuclear facility, which has been subject to repeated sabotage attacks over the years. Excavated mounds at the site suggest the facility may lie between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet) underground, according to analysis by experts and The Associated Press.

The Islamic Republic denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue them.

Iran is now producing close to weapons-grade uranium after a nuclear deal with world powers collapsed, and the facility complicates Western efforts to thwart Iran’s possible development of an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains at a standstill.

Construction began five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal. Since then, Iran has ramped up its uranium enrichment activities well beyond the limits of the agreement. Experts believe that it is only one step away from reaching the threshold of 90% enrichment of weapons-grade uranium.

Enriching uranium is a key element in building a nuclear bomb. Israeli experts believe that Iran needs additional time (up to two years) to develop the means to deliver and detonate the warhead.

Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halwai, said at the same meeting that Israel was closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear program and reiterated that the military was ready to take action.

“There could be negative developments on the horizon that could lead to action,” he said. “We have the ability. Others have the ability. This is a very meaningful and important thing.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)