A senior IDF official said that if, as part of diplomatic negotiations with Iran, no agreement is reached on removing enriched uranium from the country and halting uranium enrichment, the achievements of the operation would be rendered meaningless.
According to him, “This would be a major failure, because this rogue regime would be able to rush toward nuclear capability-and then we will have achieved nothing." The officer emphasized that this was the central goal of the operation, and not merely a signal or a retaliatory move.
The senior officer expressed skepticism regarding the rationality of Iran’s top leadership. He noted that if the current diplomatic effort fails to fully achieve its aims, another strike in Iran might be necessary to reach the objective.
He further acknowledged that during the war, Israel also struck Iranian internal security targets, including checkpoints of the Basij and other repression forces. According to him, the strikes were intended to encourage the Iranian public to take to the streets.
“Once it became clear to us that it was not working, we stopped doing it," he said.
About two weeks ago, the Air Force conducted a test of a new system for intercepting drones, which did not produce the desired results.
The Air Force is trying to strike Hezbollah drone-launching cells deep in the territory, in order not to operate only defensively against a threat for which the IDF currently has no technological solution.
A senior IDF officer admits that “there is currently no solution for drones," and adds: “There will not be 100% success in intercepting drones. We must not wait on the defensive; we must attack the drone operators 20 kilometers inside Lebanon."