Netanyahu’s claims about Iran’s nuclear program run counter to public evidence

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He claimed that Iran would develop nuclear weapons and use them against Israel last two wars. There is no publicly available evidence of this assessment, which contradicts assessments by the UN nuclear watchdog and US intelligence agencies.

For decades, Netanyahu has made dire predictions about Iran’s controversial nuclear program, most famously at the United Nations. with visual aids. The rhetoric has increased since the United States and Iran reached an interim peace deal this month, and Netanyahu facing choices later this year.

Iran has always insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, even though it has enriched uranium to near weapons level. much higher than required for civilian use. The United States and others say Iran’s nuclear program had a military component until 2003.

Even before two wars thwarted its nuclear program, Iran was months or years away from developing a usable atomic weapon, and there is no evidence that Iran chose to develop such a weapon. It is widely believed that Israel has. own nuclear weapons.

Here’s a closer look.

CLAIMS

“We prevented Iran from implementing its plan to destroy us, and today they would have a nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb, to do it,” Netanyahu said in English at the JNS International Policy Summit on Sunday. “If we had not taken action in Operation Rising Lion and then Operation Roaring Lion, Iran would have had atomic bombs. And let me tell you, they would have used them.”

FACTS

Iran and Israel have been archenemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian leaders have long been calling for the destruction of Israel. Netanyahu since the 1990sHe has made it his life’s work to challenge Iran’s nuclear program and has repeatedly warned that Tehran is on the verge of producing a bomb.

When US President Donald Trump canceled the 2015 nuclear deal – A deal that Netanyahu campaigned on – The US reimposed and expanded crippling sanctions on Iran that were lifted under that deal. Iran responded by increasing its enrichment rate to 60%, a short and technical step from weapons level.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, noted that Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon country that can enrich uranium to this level. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium would potentially enable Iran to build nuclear facilities. about 10 nuclear bombsShould he choose to do this?

But there has been no public evidence that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program since 2003, when the IAEA, the United States and others said Tehran abandoned the effort after the United States invaded Iraq. Although IAEA inspections have become increasingly limited, they have not reported any evidence of a weapons program.

To make a usable weapon, Iran would need to enrich uranium to 90% purity. He will need to produce the actual bomb, then miniaturize it and mount it on a ballistic missile. This process will take months or years and risks exposing Israeli or US intelligence.

A 2025 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees all US intelligence agencies, said: “We continue to assess that Iran has not built a nuclear weapon.”

Israel started 12-day war on Iran Named Operation Rising Lion in June 2025. During this conflict, the United States struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, destroyed centrifuges, and halted Iran’s uranium enrichment. It is unknown whether this enrichment continued, and the bombing is believed to have buried highly enriched uranium. Iran prevented the IAEA from visiting the bombed areas.

After last year’s war, Netanyahu boasted that Israel had driven Iran’s nuclear program “into oblivion.” The United States and Israel then launched a surprise attack on February 28, which Israel called Operation Roaring Lion.

The opening attacks killed Iran’s longtime religious leader. Ayatollah Ali KhameneiHe was the person who had the final say on the nuclear program. Iranian diplomats say he issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against nuclear weapons.

Son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba KhameneiIt is thought that , was injured in these attacks and has not been seen in public since he became a religious leader. He is seen as a tougher figure than his father and has not made any statements about Iran’s nuclear intentions.

Other Iranian officials have suggested that Iran should seek nuclear weapons if its existence is threatened.

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