Israel's quarrel with Iran will end either with a full scale war including a ground invasion or through talks, ex-air force chief Major General Eitan Ben Eliyahu said in an interview with the 103fm radio station on Thursday.
A 12-day Israeli military campaign in June which was capped off with US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, he said, had damaged but not finished off Iran's capabilities.
"Perhaps if there is a certain weakness in our attack, it is that we did not eliminate the nuclear program, but we did delay it for many years to come," he said.
"Now either you decide on a total war with Iran, including a ground invasion," he added, "or you go for economic pressure alongside attempts to return to negotiations."
Ben Eliyahu did not specify if he meant Israel or the United States.
Iran and the United States held five rounds of indirect talks in April and May. A sixth was tentatively scheduled for the beginning of June but never occurred as Israel launched its surprise campaign beginning on June 13.
The strikes killed senior nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians. Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.
Joining the conflict, the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and Iran responded with missile attacks on a US airbase in Qatar before US President Donald Trump enforced a ceasefire.
Downside of US strikes
Tehran, Ben Eliyahu added, had drawn insight on Israel's defenses in the war and might position itself to wreak greater damage in another conflict.
"At the time, we taught the Iranians what they needed to improve for next time: the number of missiles, the accuracy of the missiles, moving the entire array further east and south, the surprise of these weapons, the depth of dispersion," he said.
Ben Eliyahu lamented that the US strikes, while advancing Israeli war aims, may have deprived Washington of its credibility as a mediator to solve the standoff peacefully.
"The Americans participated in the attack in the 12-Day War. Their participation was essential and effective, but there was also a negative side to it."
"As soon as the Americans participated in the attack, they lost their strength and status as those responsible for the negotiations on the political side, as such a mediator and coordinator. They lost legitimacy, this is a very important thing."
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed regional issues including Iran on Monday, according to a CNN report, as Israeli defense officials warned that a renewed conflict was possible.
The July strikes – described by Reuters as retaliation for US action against Iranian nuclear sites weeks earlier – hit the Sarsang field operated by HKN Energy and another run by Dallas-based Hunt Oil, disrupting output across the region.
By the end of four days of attacks, nearly half of Kurdistan’s production was offline, Reuters said.
In the following weeks, US officials delivered what one administration source called “extremely intensive” messages to Baghdad, pressing for a restart of the pipeline to Türkiye’s Ceyhan port.
Washington has argued that the line’s closure diverted crude into southern routes and informal channels that enriched Iran-aligned networks.
A preliminary restart deal was reached in mid-July, and exports resumed late in September after a 30-month halt, helping normalize flows of Kurdish crude.
Iraqi officials have not named the group behind the strikes, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iraqi Kurdistan security sources said that initial investigations suggested that the drone came from areas under the control of Iran-backed militias.
The Justice Ministry’s gazette carried a committee decision freezing funds of designated entities and, in error, named Hezbollah and the Houthis, according to Reuters.
A letter from the acting deputy governor of the Central Bank asked the Committee for the Freezing of Terrorists’ Funds to delete the clause, two bank sources was cited by the outlet.
Tasnim, an outlet close to Iran’s IRGC, framed Baghdad’s correction as a climbdown under intense public and political pressure, saying Iraq’s Central Bank “backed off” after outrage over the Gazette notice.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said Iraq had approved freezing only the assets of entities and individuals linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and following a request from Malaysia.
He ordered an urgent investigation “to hold accountable those responsible” for the mistake and stressed Baghdad’s stance on Lebanon and the Palestinians was “principled and not subject to exaggeration.”
The clarification followed publication in issue No. 4848 of the Iraqi Gazette of Decision No. 61 by the Committee for the Freezing of Terrorists’ Assets, which named 24 entities and ordered their funds frozen.
The committee is chaired by Central Bank Governor Ali Mohsen al-Alaq, with members from the anti-money-laundering office and the ministries of finance, interior, foreign affairs, justice, trade, communications, and science and technology, as well as the integrity, intelligence and counter-terrorism bodies.
The committee said on Thursday that the publication was meant to cover ISIS- and al-Qaeda-related listings only and that unrelated groups appeared because the list was released before final revisions were completed. It said a corrected version will be printed in the official gazette.
Publication of the committee’s decision in the Justice Ministry’s gazette led some outlets to report that Hezbollah and the Houthis had been designated terrorist entities, prompting denunciations from politicians aligned with Iran-backed factions.
Hussain Mouanes, a lawmaker from a bloc affiliated with Kataeb Hezbollah, called the government’s conduct “irresponsible” and accused it of failing to defend Iraq’s sovereignty.
Lawmaker Mustafa Sanad, who shared the gazette and is aligned with Popular Mobilization Forces-linked blocs, condemned the designations on social media.
Iraq has balanced relations with both the United States and Iran, but faces mounting risks to its financial system if it falls foul of global sanctions regimes.
Hezbollah and the Houthis are key members of a broader network of Iran-backed groups across the region.
Iran views Iraq as a strategic economic and political partner amid Western sanctions, while Baghdad remains wary of being drawn into US efforts to squeeze Tehran and its regional allies.
