Iran warns of retaliation against Israeli nuclear sites if attacked

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued a warning on Monday that any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will be met with a direct response targeting Israel’s concealed nuclear infrastructure.

Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence services had obtained a large cache of sensitive material from Israel, including documents related to the Jewish state's nuclear and strategic facilities.

The intelligence operation yielded a “significant intelligence achievement,” the Supreme National Security Council's said in a statement, adding that a detailed database of Israeli targets is now at the disposal of Iran’s armed forces.

“In the event of aggression, the (Israeli) regime’s hidden nuclear facilities will be targeted,” the statement said.

The council emphasized that this intelligence gain was part of “a smart, quiet strategy” by the Islamic Republic in response to what it described as hostile media and political pressure.

It further praised what it described as "the tireless and unassuming efforts of the armed forces aimed at building operational capabilities tailored to the weaknesses and strengths of the Zionist occupying regime (Israel) and its supporters."

Iran's intelligence and operational readiness, the statement added, now allows Iran’s forces to immediately retaliate not only against nuclear threats but also against any act of sabotage targeting Iran’s economic or military infrastructure.

Iran’s intelligence minister said on Sunday the documents will soon be made public. However, Israeli security experts have cast doubt on Tehran’s claims of obtaining sensitive Israeli intelligence as exaggerated or psychological warfare.

Asher Ben-Artzi, a former head of Israel’s Interpol, told Iran International, “I know that the relevant information is well-guarded in Israel and it does not seem to me that hackers can access it."

He warned that the intelligence may not be as significant as claimed. “Iran wants to tell the world that their intelligence personnel are professionals, but they probably think that their use of disinformation will increase their achievements,” he said.

In 2018, Israel said it had stolen Iran's nuclear documents including 55,000 pages and 55,000 digital files from a warehouse in Tehran's Shourabad area through an intelligence operation.