Netanyahu claims Iran stripped of uranium enrichment, missile-making capability
What's the story
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Iran has lost its ability to enrich uranium and produce ballistic missiles. "Iran can no longer enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles," Netanyahu told reporters. The assertion comes after nearly three weeks of coordinated air strikes by the United States and Israel. "We are winning, and Iran is being decimated," Netanyahu added, stating that the joint campaign has significantly weakened Iran's military capabilities.
Conflict escalation
US makes its own decisions: Netanyahu
Netanyahu also rejected allegations that Israel had pulled the United States into the conflict. He said US President Donald Trump "always makes his decisions on what he thinks is good for America." "Together in close coordination with President Trump, close coordination between America and Israel, our militaries, our intelligence services, we're achieving goals in lightning speed," he added.
Alliance strength
US-Israel partnership critical for global security: Netanyahu
Netanyahu also praised the US-Israel partnership, calling it critical for global security. He said, "We are protecting the entire Middle East - and I venture to say, the entire world." He added that he and Trump "see eye to eye" on Iran and asserted the world owes a "debt of deep indebtedness" to Trump. Despite claiming that Israel acted alone against Iran's South Pars gas field, Netanyahu admitted that Trump asked them to "hold off on future attacks."
Ground operations
Netanyahu hints at possibility of ground operations
Netanyahu hinted that ground operations could be a possibility in the future. He also pointed to signs of instability within Iran's leadership, saying he wasn't sure who was running the country. "I'm not sure who is running Iran right now," Netanyahu said, ascribing it to "a lot of tension" among top officials. He added, "It's up to the Iranian people to show that, to choose the moment and to rise to the moment."