Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “specific component” of Iran’s nuclear program was damaged last month after he disregarded the White House’s request to limit retaliatory airstrikes on the Islamic republic.
“It’s not a secret, it has been published — there is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack,” Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday, according to The Times of Israel.
“The program itself and its ability to operate here have not yet been thwarted,” he added.
Netanyahu also said that Israeli officials “cooperate as much as we can” with the United States.
“I say ‘yes’ when possible, and I say ‘no’ when necessary — and that’s how we manage it,” he said, according to the Financial Times.
During Israel’s April strike on Iran, one of four Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defense batteries was destroyed near Tehran, the Israeli prime minister said.
In the Oct. 26 attack, Israel took out the remaining three batteries and severely damaged Iran’s ability to produce both ballistic missiles and solid fuel, which is used in long-range ballistic missiles.
Last month’s airstrikes were the latest in a series of attacks between Israel and Iran that have threatened to engulf the entire Middle East in all-out war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran must respond to the Israeli strikes or risk emboldening the Jewish state further.
“We have not and will not abandon our right to retaliate, which will occur at a time and in a manner we deem appropriate,” Araghchi said during a meeting with senior Revolutionary Guard commanders, according to video footage which was publicly released on Tuesday.
American officials had urged Israel to limit its October response to an Iranian missile attack three weeks prior by avoiding Iran’s nuclear and oil production infrastructure in the run-up to the U.S. elections.
Netanyahu did not specify which component had been damaged in the strikes, but Axios reported last week that the Israeli targets included a site where plastic explosives are made that surround uranium in a nuclear weapon and are required for detonation.
Iran has long denied that it is developing nuclear weapons, insisting that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.
In his speech to the Knesset, Netanyahu also criticized Biden for his attempts to inhibit Israel’s Gaza offensive, as well as its attack on Iran, telling the parliament that he bucked the U.S. president’s counsel by going into southern Gaza in May.
“President Biden told me that if we go in, we will be alone,” Netanyahu said, according to the Times.
The Israeli leader’s public criticism of Biden comes as he prepares for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, with whom he has had a friendlier relationship in the past.
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