The US has changed the course of the conflict - how will Iran respond?

 

Netanyahu Praises Trump Following U.S. Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites

Jerusalem, Sunday — As Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium in the Israeli prime minister's office this morning, he did not at first address the Israeli people in Hebrew, to update them on the latest, dramatic development in this, his latest war.

Instead, he spoke in English, speaking directly to, and lavishing praise upon, U.S. President Donald Trump after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

If Netanyahu's tone was triumphant, and the smile barely suppressed, it is hardly surprising. He has spent most of his political career obsessed with the threat he believes Iran poses to Israel.

Netanyahu has spent much of the last 15 years attempting to persuade his American allies that only military action (and only American munitions) could destroy Iran's nuclear weapons programme.

While congratulating Trump for a bold decision that "will change history", Netanyahu can also congratulate himself on changing the mind of a U.S. president who campaigned against overseas military adventures, and whose supporters were overwhelmingly opposed to joining Israel's war against Iran.

It should also be noted that Trump's own intelligence agencies had not shared Israel's assessment of how quickly Iran could seek to build a nuclear weapon, nor indeed whether it had taken the decision to do so.

Throughout this conflict, which began just 10 days ago, Israel's government and military have insisted that Israel had the capacity to deal with the Iranian threat on its own.

But it was no secret that only America possessed the massive ordnance capable of dealing with the strongest levels of protection around Iran's nuclear facilities, particularly at Fordo, built deep inside a mountain.

If the nuclear sites bombed last night are now indeed out of use, then Israel's prime minister will be able to declare his main war aim complete, perhaps bringing this conflict closer to an end.

For its part, Iran says it had already moved its nuclear material out.