US weighing indirect support for Israeli attack on Iran nuclear sites - CBS
The United States is considering ways to provide military support for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites without taking a lead role, CBS News reported citing a US official and a source familiar with the matter.
The plans could include intelligence sharing or aerial refueling, but CBS News cited the US official as saying they were unaware of any commitment yet.
CBS news cited the source familiar with the coordination that Washington was unlikely to commit heavy bombers which Israel lacks and some analysts have said are necessary to penetrate Iran's nuclear infrastructure deep underground.
"Will you commit to us not bombing (Iran) ... unless we're directly hit?" California representative Ro Khanna asked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a House hearing on Thursday, referring to any preemptive preemptive attack.
"Would you agree ... that Netanyahu is itching for a fight? If Netanyahu uses American missiles to hit Iran, he's going to drag us into a war there," Khanna added, in a rare public intervention by a Democratic lawmaker on Trump's Iran policy.
"Our military knows that you cannot just throw hits (and) eliminate Iran's nuclear capability. They'll simply go underground, and they will then end monitoring," he said.
"Will you stand up today and make it clear to Netanyahu that the escalation that he's threatening just yesterday is not in the American interest, that you should not be dragging America into a war with Iran?"
Iranian state media began releasing images of what it said were documents related to Israel's nuclear program obtained by Tehran and said they demonstrated collusion between the United Nations nuclear agency and arch-foe Israel.
"The first set of documents obtained from the Israeli regime shows that Grossi, the Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had full cooperation and close coordination with this regime and fully implemented its orders," the Tasneem news agency wrote on X.
The outlet, which is affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, included images of email exchanges in Hebrew and and what appeared to be a printed letter from Meirav Zafary-Odiz, Israel's ambassador to the IAEA, to its now chief Raphael Grossi.
Dated 2016, the alleged letter requests a meeting.
Other documents appeared to be email exchanges between Zafary-Odiz and an Israeli academic using an University of Washington email address and focused on panel discussions on nuclear topics.
Iran's intelligence ministry said last week it had obtained a trove of sensitive material from Israel, including documents it says are related to the Jewish state's nuclear and strategic facilities.
Israeli security experts cast doubt on the assertion, saying it was likely part of a state attempt to sway opinion as US-Iran nuclear talks enter a critical phase.
Amir Rashidi, director of cyber security and digital rights of the Iran-focused human rights NGO the Miaan Group, said the documents released on Thursday appeared dubious.
"There are several red flags that raise questions about the authenticity and origin of these materials," he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
Their presentation as screenshots impairs verification through metadata and timestamps, pages are numbered in Persian-Arabic script and Iranian hackers' past compromising of academic accounts makes the university email address suspect, Rashidi said.
Tehran said nuclear talks with Washington have been rendered more complicated after the UN nuclear watchdog passed a resolution calling Iran non-compliant.
“Sunday’s negotiations in Oman are taking place under the shadow of the new resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors, which adds to the complexity of the discussions," foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on Thursday.
"We will be in Muscat to defend the rights of the Iranian nation, our principled positions, and the nuclear achievements of Iranian scientists,” he added.
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency condemned Thursday’s IAEA Board of Governors resolution as politically motivated and warned of immediate retaliatory measures.
“Today we witnessed that the Board of Governors of the IAEA was completely divided, and a politically motivated resolution submitted by the E3 and the US was adopted with the lowest possible vote,” Najafi said after the vote.
“This is the second time that the Board would not support a resolution completely. The resolution was unfortunately adopted, and we stated before its adoption that Iran will not stand still. We will react very strongly.”
“As my Minister stated yesterday, this is another major strategic mistake by the E3, which will be met with a strong reaction from Iran. We will announce some new measures to the IAEA, and the sponsors of the resolution should bear the consequences of what they tabled,” he added.
Tehran may revise its nuclear policies if Western pressure increases following the latest censure by the IAEA Board of Governors, Ali Khezrian, a member of Iran’s parliamentary national security committee, said Thursday.
“In response to this political misuse of the Board, Iran’s reciprocal actions have already been set in motion,” Khezrian said.
He also confirmed the planned launch of a new uranium enrichment facility as part of Iran’s countermeasures.
“Western countries will receive a clear message: the more political pressure mounts, the more forcefully Iran will continue its reciprocal steps,” he added.
