Israel seeks US assurances for future strikes on Iran if nuclear program resumes

Israeli officials expressed confidence on Monday that the United States would support additional strikes on Iranian targets if the regime resumes uranium enrichment or initiates a clear nuclear weapons program.

In a closed briefing on Monday, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told officials he believes U.S. President Donald Trump would green light Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites under certain conditions. 

Trump has indicated that he may support additional U.S. strikes if Iran resumes uranium enrichment, though he has also expressed a preference for reaching a diplomatic agreement with Tehran.

During a dinner meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening, Trump expressed interest in eventually securing a deal with Iran that could pave the way for lifting sanctions.

“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they really want to talk,” Trump said in response to a question about Iran’s readiness to resume nuclear talks. “They took a big drubbing.” 

Asked about future strikes, Trump replied, “I hope we’re not going to have to do that. I can’t imagine wanting to do that. I can’t imagine them wanting to do it. They want to meet.” 

Later in the discussion with the press, Trump reiterated his desire to lift sanctions on Iran, provided the right conditions are met.

“One of the things we have with Iran is what they call biting sanctions, they are very biting sanctions,” he stated. “And I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off, give them a chance at rebuilding. Because I’d like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying, ‘Death to America, death to the USA, death to Israel,’ as they were doing.” 

Netanyahu indicated that Israel has no objection to U.S. negotiations with Iran, but emphasized the importance of closely monitoring Iran’s actions.

“I think the partnership between Israel and the United States, the partnership between President Trump and me produced a historic victory,” Netanyahu stated. 

“It set back the two tumors that were threatening the State of Israel,” he continued, “the nuclear tumor and the ballistic missile tumor; because they were planning to build 20,000 of these things and launch it on a country the size of New Jersey. And no country could withstand that.” 

“But when you remove a tumor, it doesn’t mean that it can’t come back,” Netanyahu continued. “You have to constantly monitor the situation to make sure that there’s no attempt to bring it back.” 

“So we’ve had a great achievement and I think part of the effort of consolidating this and ensuring that we don’t have to repeat this is to monitor this carefully,” he said. 

Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu outlined Israel’s preferred approach to Iran, suggesting it be handled similarly to its strategy toward Hezbollah in Lebanon – conducting airstrikes in response to any violations of the ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese government.

Both U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies are currently monitoring Iran’s actions following the strikes on its nuclear facilities, watching for any signs that Iran may be attempting to rehabilitate the sites or relocate nuclear materials or equipment.

Netanyahu is expected to raise the issue with Trump again in their meeting on Tuesday evening.