New Deal or Full-Scale War Can Halt Iran’s Nuclear Progress: Former Israeli PM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has described Iran as a “threshold nuclear power,” and noted that military action by Israel alone will not be enough to stop Iran’s nuclear progress, according to Arab News.
Several Possibilities
During a video interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Barak stated that Israeli government’s ability to put an end to Iran’s nuclear program was limited.
“In my judgment, it’s not a secret that Israel alone cannot delay the nuclear program of Iran by a significant time period. Probably several weeks, probably a month, but even the US cannot delay them by more than a few months,” he said.
However, he noted that such possibility does not mean that Iran will have nuclear weapons as they probably still have to complete certain weaponization. Moreover, they “probably have to create a crude nuclear device to explode it somewhere in the desert to show the whole world where they are.”
Barak also called Israeli strikes on Iran “problematic,” but Israel has justifications for its actions. “Instead of sitting idle, Israel feels that they have to do something. Probably together with the Americans we can do more.”
New Deal or Full-Scale War
“Israel alone cannot delay the nuclear program of Iran by a significant time period. Probably several weeks… a month,” says Israel’s former PM Ehud Barak. “Even the US cannot delay them by more than a few months.” So what’s the strategy here? I asked him. See his response. pic.twitter.com/U793ue66A1
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) June 13, 2025
Importantly, he mentioned that there are only two ways to stop Iran’s progress whether to reach a diplomatic breakthrough or change the Iranian regime. “My judgment is that because Iran is already what’s called a threshold nuclear power, the only way to block it is either to impose upon it a convincing new agreement or alternatively a full-scale war to topple down the regime,” Barak added.
Moreover, he said that Israel could do this with the support of the US, but the US seemed to have no willing for this move. “I don’t believe that any American president, neither Trump nor any one of his predecessors, would have decided to do that,” he added.
Israeli-Iranian Conflict
On June 13, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran under the name of Operation Rising Lion. The military campaign targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
As a response, Iran launched a retaliatory wave of missiles against Israel and targeted Tel Aviv. Israel also killed three more Iranian nuclear scientists, raising the total number of scientists slain to nine, according to Gulf News.
Currently, both countries are trading missiles and attacks amid intensifying efforts to halt the conflict.
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