Israel's Netanyahu Claims Israeli Strike Damaged Part of Iran's Nuclear Program

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a “specific component” of Iran’s nuclear program had been damaged in last month’s Israeli attack on Iranian military facilities.

Netanyahu, who mentioned the attack in a speech before the Knesset, did not specify what the component was or offer details about the strike, The Caspian Post reports, The Washington Post. 

It remains unclear what impact the Oct. 25 attack had on Iran’s nuclear research program.

“A nuclear Iran poses a massive threat to our existence, to the peace agreements we aim to achieve with more of our neighbors and to global peace,” Netanyahu said. “We will be tested on our ability to thwart their nuclear ambitions.”

President Joe Biden had requested that Israel not strike Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields.

Netanyahu also said Israel’s strikes degraded Iran’s capacity to produce ballistic missiles and destroyed a number of air defense and missile batteries around Tehran. Satellite imagery in the wake of Israel’s attack showed damage to two radar sites associated with Iran’s air defenses and at least three sites associated with missile production, The Washington Post reported in October.

Also Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was imposing sanctions against the Israeli settlement group Amana and one of its subsidiaries, accusing it of working with groups and individuals who had been placed under sanctions for violent activity in the West Bank.

“The settlers and farms that Amana supports play a key role in developing settlements in the West Bank, from which in turn settlers commit violence,” the Treasury said in a statement. “More broadly, Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land.”

Amana is already under sanctions levied by Britain and Canada.