JERUSALEM: The head of Israel’s military said Tuesday that its strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme “by years” and the campaign against the country was now “entering a new phase”.
“We have concluded a significant phase, but the campaign against Iran is not over. We are entering a new phase based on the achievements of the current one,” Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said in a statement.
“We’ve set Iran’s nuclear project back by years, and the same applies to its missile program.”
Israel said earlier Tuesday that it had removed the “dual existential threat” of Iran’s nuclear programme and missiles.
Israel says it hit Iranian radar, but refrained from other strikes after Trump call
Following US air strikes on Sunday, President Donald Trump said his forces had “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites.
Analysts said, however, that it remained unclear whether the strikes had put the nuclear threat out of reach, with the possibility that Iran had moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium out of the targeted sites.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that there was now an “increased” risk that Iran would attempt to enrich uranium secretly.