Israel said pressing for swift action on Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, may act without US

Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and that Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump’s team about whether the US should get involved.

The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.

The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli participants on the call included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.

The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordo, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources. The United States is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain.

The report came as reports on Saturday said that the US was moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific Island of Guam, reinforcing the possibility that the US could participate directly in an attack.

The B-2 can be equipped to carry America’s 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground, such as the one at Fordo.

A person in Washington familiar with the matter said Israel has communicated to the US administration that it believes Trump’s window of up to two weeks is too long and that more urgent action is needed. The person did not say whether the Israelis made that point during the high-level call.

During the call, Vice President JD Vance pushed back, saying the United States shouldn’t be directly involved and suggesting that the Israelis were going to drag the country into war, said the sources. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also participated in the call, said a security source. Reuters could not determine who else took part in the call.

The prospect of a US strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some prominent members of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.

Vance has frequently criticized past US involvement in conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, but has lately defended Trump against Republican critics who urge the administration to stay out of the Iran conflict.

Other Republicans, including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they hope Trump will help Israel finish destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the US out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program. But his rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly aggressive toward Iran.

He has repeatedly said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons and cannot have a uranium enrichment capacity.

The White House declined to comment for this story.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond.

Israel said to be confident US will enter war

While Trump has not announced a decision on the matter either way, most senior Israelis familiar with the matter nevertheless believe that the US will enter the war, unnamed senior officials told Israeli media outlets on Saturday, because the Iranians are giving no indication of a willingness to accept the conditions that the US and Europe are demanding for a ceasefire

“Trump has created a ‘win-win’ situation,” Channel 12 quoted an Israeli source familiar with the Israeli-US contacts as saying. Either the Iranians surrender, “or he acts,” the source said.

“He’s given a timeframe of up to two weeks [for diplomacy] and there is no indication whatsoever that the Iranians are using this ladder. Quite the reverse. They are kicking it in a way that prevents any possibility of using it. Our assessment is that Trump will not blink in the end.”

Channel 12 also cited what it said was material from Israeli security consultations that explains why earlier talk of conflict lasting for just a few days has now seen the war continuing into its second week, with IDF Chief Zamir warning of a prolonged conflict.

As the conflict has progressed, the report said, “new operational opportunities have arisen,” based on intelligence material that has enabled breakthroughs not previously available, including the possible widening of targets, as evidenced by the latest targeted strikes on key Iranian military figures.

The war is expected to continue through the coming week — “offensive and defense,” the Channel 12 report stated. But toward the end of the week, a “strategic assessment” consultation will be held on the next steps. Decisions will be affected by the American position, the IDF’s progress in the conflict, Iran’s response, and other factors.

Israeli strike on Fordo increasingly likely

Publicly, Netanyahu has not ruled out Israel attacking Fordo alone, though officials have not provided any details on how that would be achieved.

Of all of Iran’s key nuclear weapons-related sites, Fordo is believed to be the only one untouched by war.

Channel 12 reported, citing a senior Israeli diplomatic source, that the Isfahan nuclear site was “destroyed” on Saturday. As the Natanz facility and other targets were heavily damaged or destroyed earlier in Israel’s campaign, the diplomat said that “only Fordo remains.”

To destroy the threat posed by Fordo, four sources said it is now increasingly likely that Israel will launch a solo military operation. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources.

The Israelis feel they have the momentum and have limited time given the costs of the war, one source added. “I don’t see them waiting much longer,” said the source.

It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, ground forces, or both. Two of the sources said that rather than attempting to destroy the entire site, Israel could instead do significant damage to it.

That could mean focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate.

Some analysts have speculated that Israel could use special forces to enter Fordo and blow it up from inside.

Another scenario being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter, would be to drop a series of munitions in rapid succession in an attempt to breach the fortified site, similar to how the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year.

Such a strike could be followed by an incursion by special forces, the source said.

It is not clear that Israel has munitions powerful enough to penetrate the fortified facility. It is widely believed that to have a high chance of success, US intervention would be needed.

But even with the massive firepower of a joint US-Israeli military action, military and nuclear experts believe that a military operation would probably only temporarily set back a program the West believes is already capable of producing nuclear bombs in the near future.

Iran, which vows to destroy Israel, has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons, but its enrichment levels reach far beyond any civilian purpose, and the UN’s IAEA nuclear watchdog says it has obstructed inspectors from visiting its nuclear sites. Israel says Tehran recently engaged in active steps to build a bomb.

Avoiding a war of attrition

Ultimately, the goal is to bring Iran to the negotiating table, Channel 12 quoted the Israeli diplomatic source as saying — echoing Israel’s official war goals, which do not provide for the complete military destruction of Iran’s rogue nuclear weapons program by the military, but rather for Iran to itself agree to abandon the program and destroy its facilities or for the US to oversee their destruction.

“We won’t continue [the military campaign] without a clear purpose. We won’t tempt fate. We are not pushing for regime change in Tehran,” it quoted the source as having said.

The correct exit point will be when the nuclear and ballistic missile threat has been averted, Channel 12 cited the source as saying, and Israel is getting closer to that point.

The Kan public broadcaster quoted a source offering a more bleak assessment, however, saying that if the US does not join the conflict, and Iran decides to use all the military means at its disposal, “we are likely to get drawn into a lengthy conflict.”

The report said Israel assessed that Iran would drag Israel into a war of attrition, with an exchange of blows continuing for a long time.

“The continuation of the campaign and its result depend [in part] on Israel, but mainly on President Trump,” Kan’s source was cited as saying.