Israel sees window for Iran strikes, US intelligence says - WSJ

(Sharecast News) - American intelligence believed that Israel was considering large strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. Citing officials familiar with the report, the Wall Street Journal reported on 12 February that the conclusions of the analytical assessment were drawn around New Year's Eve.

US president Donald Trump had recently said that he prefers a negotiated solution, although a national-security memorandum signed during the preceding week did not rule out strikes should negotiations fail, the Journal reported.

In a post on social media, Trump had said that reports that the US was working with Israel to "blow Iran into smithereens were greatly exaggerated".

During the presidential transition period, some members of the new administration had considered whether an Israeli strike, possibly alongside the US, was viable, the WSJ said.

In November, Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, had said that: "Iran is more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities [...] We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal-to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel."