Netanyahu: Attack on Iran ‘Not a Matter’ of Weeks But Also Not Years

Demands Iran Completely Abandon Enrichment of Uranium

Speaking today on Israeli Channel 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted an attack on Iran would not happen within the next few “days or weeks,” but at the same time the war would not be put off for a matter of years either.

I don’t have a stop watch in hand,” Netanyahu said in the interview segment, though he also insisted that it was theoretically possible that there wouldn’t be a war if Iran “decided peacefully to dismantle its nuclear program.”

The demand goes well beyond what US officials have said, insisting that Iran had to end all uranium enrichment and ship all of the uranium they have out of the country, as well as fully dismantling the facility in Qoms. It is, needless to say, well beyond what the IAEA requires under Iran’s safeguards agreement.

In the interview, Netanyahu also downplayed reported US opposition to an attack on Iran, saying that it wouldn’t do any serious harm to US relations if they started a war, just like previous Israeli wars haven’t.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.