Netanyahu says Iran no longer has uranium enrichment capacity

JERUSALEM, March 19 (Reuters) – Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or build ballistic missiles after 20 days of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference on Thursday.

“We are winning and Iran is being destroyed,” Netanyahu said, noting that Iran’s missile and unmanned aerial vehicle arsenal has been largely destroyed and will be destroyed.

“What we are destroying now are the factories that produce the components necessary to make these missiles and the nuclear weapons they are trying to produce,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu did not provide evidence for his claim that Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium.

Iran’s nuclear program was the focus of mediated talks that culminated in the United States and Israel launching an airstrike on Iran on February 28. While Iran has launched missiles at Israel and other Gulf states, it has also restricted tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite nearly three weeks of war, Netanyahu said it was too early to tell whether Iranians would take to the streets to overthrow their government.

“It is up to the Iranian people to show this, to choose the moment and to adapt to the moment,” he said.

While the war has so far been waged through air strikes, Netanyahu said there must also be a ground component and “there are many possibilities for that ground component.” He did not give a detailed explanation.

Netanyahu also denied dragging the United States into the conflict.

“Does anyone really think anyone can tell President Trump what to do?” he said.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell, Writing by Steven Scheer; Editing by Rami Ayyub)