Israel will act against Iranian nuclear pursuit, uranium enrichment

Israel will act against Iran’s enrichment of uranium at above 60% because that means it was admitting pursuit of nuclear weapons, National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya on Monday morning.

“If Iran enriches uranium at above 60% as an action that we would identify — and there is no chance that we would not, that the world and the International Atomic Energy Agency would not recognize it — the result is that Israel would have to act,” Hanegbi said.

“There would not be any choice” but to act, Hanegbi stated.

Passing over the 60% threshold would mean that “we have reached the moment when Iran is clearly telling the world that it is going for a [nuclear] bomb,” Hanegbi explained.

“It would mean that this is now Iranian policy,” he said. 

Iran nearing weapons-grade uranium 

Hanegbi noted that recently Iran had hit the 83.7 mark on uranium enrichment, but had hastened to explain that this was a mistake. Such steps are never accidental, he added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explained this to world leaders including the United States and the E3 — Germany, France, and Italy. 

Hanegbi spoke out just prior to the start of the IAEA’s quarterly board meeting in Vienna to discuss Iran’s enrichment of uranium at up to 60%, which is close to the 90% weapons grade. 

In addition, according to an IAEA report, only a fraction of the monitoring devices have been activated.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly who is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories from Monday to Wednesday is expected to also speak out against Iran. Great Britain is one of the 35 IAEA Board members.