Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said his country would rebuild its nuclear facilities if attacked, following US media reports that Israel was likely to launch a strike on key Iranian nuclear sites.
“They are threatening us that they will attack our Natanz nuclear facility. Come and attack it. It is the brains of our children that built it,” Pezeshkian said during a visit to the southern province of Bushehr.
“If you destroy a hundred [nuclear facilities], our children will build a thousand,” he said, without directly referring to the US reports.
The Washington Post reported today that Israel was likely to attempt a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear programme in the coming months to set its progress back, citing a US intelligence report.
Warnings about a potential Israeli strike were included in multiple intelligence reports between the end of the Biden administration and the start of the Trump administration, none more comprehensive than an early January report produced by the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s intelligence directorate and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The report warned that Israel was likely to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities within the first six months of 2025.
Serving and former US officials told The Washington Post that the prediction was rooted in an analysis of Israel’s planning following its bombing of Iran last October, which degraded Tehran’s air defences and left it exposed to further attacks.
The officials spoke anonymously to discuss highly classified intelligence. The Israeli government, CIA, DIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said that US President Donald Trump “has made it clear: He will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.
“While he prefers negotiating a resolution to America’s long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon,” Hughes told The Post.
Hughes declined to comment on the underlying intelligence.
The prospect of an Israeli strike poses an early test for Trump, who campaigned on restoring peace in the Middle East and Europe while also touting staunch support for Israel.
