Netanyahu Holds Iran War Drill and Criticizes UN Nuclear Watchdog

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened a rare cabinet war drill, ramping up threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Netanyahu accused UN inspectors of failing to confront Tehran and stated that Israel is committed to acting against Iran’s nuclear drive and missile attacks on Israel. The possibility of multiple fronts requires Israel’s leadership to consider its major decisions ahead of time. Netanyahu levelled sharp criticism of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following a report last week by the UN watchdog that Iran had provided a satisfactory answer on one case of suspect uranium particles and re-installed some monitoring equipment originally put in place under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal. After then US President Donald Trump quit the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran ramped up uranium enrichment. Israeli and Western officials say it could switch from enrichment at 60 percent fissile purity to 90 percent, weapons-grade, within a few weeks. Military experts are divided, however, on whether Israel has the conventional clout to deliver lasting damage to Iranian targets that are distant, dispersed and well-defended.