OAN Staff James Meyers
12:28 PM – Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Numerous U.S. intelligence reports suggest that Israel is preparing to launch a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, even as the Trump administration actively seeks to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with Tehran.
According to CNN, intercepted communications among Israeli officials, along with analyses of Israeli military maneuvers, have led U.S. officials to conclude that an Israeli strike on Iran may be imminent.
“The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn’t remove all of Iran’s uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely,” a source familiar with U.S. intelligence said.
Advertisement
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been conducting air munitions movements and the completion of air exercises — signs of a possible strike on Tehran. However, experts have argued that such a strike would initiate a worse regional conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the 47th president has threatened to impose military consequences against Iran if a new nuclear deal with the U.S. is not reached. The GOP commander-in-chief gave Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a 60-day deadline in a letter sent in mid-March, a source told CNN.
Meanwhile, it has been over 60 days since the letter was delivered and 38 days since the start of the first round of talks. According to former senior intelligence official Jonathan Panikoff, Israeli officials have expressed feeling caught “between a rock and a hard place” as a result of the ongoing diplomatic impasse.
Nevertheless, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still under pressure to not alienate the Jewish State’s biggest ally, the United States, while still avoiding a U.S-Iran deal that his country sees as a let down.
“At the end of the day, the Israeli decision-making is going to be predicated on U.S. policy determinations and actions, and what agreements President Trump does or does not come to with Iran,” Panikoff said.
Additionally, the Jewish State is unlikely to carry out a strike without implied U.S. approval, Panikoff further claimed.
“I think it’s more likely they strike to try and get the deal to fall apart if they think Trump is going to settle for a ‘bad deal’. The Israelis have not been shy about signaling that to us, both publicly and privately,” an intelligence source told CNN.
Last October, Israel carried out a missile strike on Iran’s missile production facilities and air defenses, resulting in Tehran hitting its weakest point since 1979. In addition, Israeli officials have had talks of conducting even more strikes on Iran in recent months — calling the regime an “existential threat” to Israel.
“Iran is more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal — to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel,” Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X last November.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
