Netanyahu says Israel close to meeting its goal in Iran

23/6/2025 6:11

Israel is very close to completing

its goal of removing the dual threats of Iran's ballistic

missiles and nuclear programme, Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said on Sunday.



He promised not to let Israel be dragged into a war of

attrition but also said he would not end the Iran campaign

prematurely.



"We won’t pursue our actions beyond what is needed to

achieve them, but we also won't finish too soon. When the

objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the

fighting will stop," he told Israeli reporters.



"I have no doubt that this is a regime that wants to

wipe us out, and that's why we embarked on this operation to

eliminate the two concrete threats to our existence: the nuclear

threat, the ballistic missile threat. We are moving step by step

towards achieving these goals. We are very, very close to

completing them," he said.



He said Iran's Fordow nuclear site had been very badly

damaged by U.S. bunker-buster bombs overnight but the extent of

damage remained to be seen. Tehran has vowed to defend itself at

all costs.



Asked about the whereabouts of Iran's 60% enriched

uranium, Netanyahu said: "We've been following that very

closely. I can tell you that it's an important component of a

nuclear programme.



"It's not the sole component. It's not a sufficient

component. But it is an important component and we have

interesting intel on that, which you will excuse me if I don't

share with you," he said.



At least until Israel's first strikes against its

enrichment installations on June 13, Iran was refining uranium

to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is

bomb-grade and far higher than the 3.67% cap imposed by a 2015

nuclear deal, which Iran respected until the year after U.S.

President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018.