IRAN’S nuclear programme should have been dealt with “a long time ago”, a senior Israeli political source has warned.
But insiders in Jerusalem say the US and Israel are now preparing to unleash a strike on Iran to finally destroy the threat of its nuke capabilities.
Tehran has issued a threat to strike a US base in response to President Donald Trump’s statement that he is prepared to attack Iran if its leaders do not come to an agreement on nuclear issues with the US.
Trump vowed: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing… it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
The US president has even massed B-2 bombers at a US base – said to be 30 per cent of the US Air Force’s stealth bomber fleet.
Senior diplomatic sources have warned Iran is “much closer than anyone can be comfortable with” in developing nukes.
They claimed Tehran will be in a position to enrich enough Uranium 233 to produce several fission weapons by the end of the month.
A high-ranking Israeli official in Jerusalem informed The Sun that it is crucial to prevent Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from pursuing nuclear goals, especially at this moment.
The insider said: “This should have been avoided a long time ago.
“It should stop. It’s not just a crazy insistence. It’s extremely important for the stability of Israel and the world.
“The whole world should make an effort to make sure that Iran is restrained.”
In Israel, the tension is palpable as Iran is seen as the primary instigator of terrorism, manipulating groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah like a master puppeteer.
An Israeli diplomatic source warned it is crucial a deal be thrashed out with Iran to temper its nuclear programme.
They said: “From Israel’s perspective, with Trump in the White House, this represents the optimum moment to deal with Iran. There won’t be a better chance.
“Obtaining precise intelligence on just how far Iran’s nuclear programme has advanced has always been hard to obtain.
“But the reality is they’re much much closer than anyone can be comfortable with. And they have been for some time.”
Since Hamas’ barbaric assault on October 7, 2023, Israel has come under fire from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
Iran has long used terror proxies to do its dirty work for it.
But IDF sources told The Sun Tehran is now “many, many steps back” as Israeli forces have been working for months to clear the path for a major strike on Iran.
They told how three air campaigns in Iran have eliminated most aerial defences which were “the main obstacle”.
The IDF insider said it has worked to significantly downgrade the threat posed by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi – effectively leaving Iran isolated.
They told The Sun: “Over the past year, we struck in Yemen three or four times, and we had three air campaigns in Iran, eliminating on the way most of the aerial defence systems in Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
“They were the main obstacle when thinking about a big aerial operation on the way to Iran. Their proxy aerial defence systems.”
Iran unleashed a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles on Israel last April in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a region-wide war.
Almost all of them were intercepted thanks to Israel’s robust Iron Dome mechanism.
The Sun this week visited an Iron Dome system battery at a secret location in the country’s south protecting the area from incoming projectiles.
IDF sources say the mobile all-weather air defence system has around a 94 per cent success rate in intercepting rockets.
But Shelly Tal Meron, a member of the Israeli Knesset, warned Israel “cannot afford” for Iran to have nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Jerusalem, the Yesh Atid Party politician said “there is no question” that Tehran is the “head of the snake”.
She said: “There is no question that there are threats to the free world. When it comes to Israel, it’s an existential threat.
“We cannot afford to have Iran have nuclear weapons.
“I think that the world is waking up to this reality and understanding that the Iranian regime is not only a problem for the State of Israel but other countries as well.
“I think President Trump is also very involved in that. He said himself that he prefers to do it not through war. Of course, I agree. It’s always better to solve things in diplomacy.”
But Shelly said Israel may have no other choice but to directly stop Iran’s nuclear weapon development if talks fail.
“This is not something new, but it’s becoming more and more dangerous,” she added.
It comes as Donald Trump has positioned at least six B-2 bombers to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia in a massive show of force against Iran.
The US leader and his defence chief Pete Hegseth warn of decisive action against Tehran and its proxies.
American jets continue to attack the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen – but Trump has vowed he is willing to bomb Iran as nuke talks stall.
The president has been pushing Iran to make a deal over its nuclear capabilities – saying on March 19 he would give Ayatollah Khamenei two months to come to the table to make an agreement or face dire consequences.
But Iran this week rejected any direct negotiations as tensions again flare in the Middle East.
Iranian armed forces this week called for a preemptive strike on the Diego Garcia base before the US could use it to target the Islamic Republic.
Military commanders mulled targeting the station, which sits in Britain’s Chagos Islands, in a bid to deter Trump from blasting Iran.
Last night, the president formally signed off Keir Starmer’s controversial agreement for the UK to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Iran’s accelerates nuclear development
Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)
IRAN is believed to have accelerated its nuclear weapons development and is building terrifying nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 1,800 miles (3,000km).
A powerful blast from Iran could impact on several continents due to the chilling capability of the warheads.
Italy, Ukraine, Sudan, India and even large swaths of Russia would all potentially be in the firing line.
They are being developed at two sites in Shahrud and Semnan, which were previously pinned as rocket or space satellite launch sites.
A third site, Sorkheh Hesar, is also said to be carrying out projects, including research on nuclear power and underground explosions.
Nukes are being quickly created under the watchful eye of the regime’s nuclear weaponization entity, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND).
Bosses are developing nuclear warheads for the solid-fuel Ghaem-100 missiles, which are equipped with mobile launch platforms at the Shahrud site.
Iran’s rocket designers have used North Korea’s missiles as a guide to develop the Ghaem-100 missile.
When the missile was in a very early testing stage in 2011, dozens of missile experts were killed at the Modarres site in Tehran.
Personnel vehicles are banned from entering the Shahrud site and are forced to park at a checkpoint before people are transported in.
Meanwhile, they are using the liquid fuel missile Simorgh to develop nuclear warheads in Semnan.
Iran has staged three successful Ghaem-100 missile launches over the past two years, enhancing the regime’s capability to deploy nuclear weapons.
