While Iranian officials continue to insist that their nuclear program exists for energy and medical research purposes, Western analysts and organizations already critical of Israel and U.S. leadership continue to echo those same talking points – even though decades of Israeli intelligence operations should give them serious pause.
Did Iran Want Nuclear Weapons?
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi reiterated Iran’s stance in remarks reported on July 22, stating that Iran rejects accusations of weaponization and is willing to pursue “mutual solutions” via diplomacy instead of sanctions or military escalation.
Similarly, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News earlier in July that Iran denies seeking nuclear arms even as it refuses to abandon its uranium enrichment program, which he described as a matter of national pride.
Despite repeated claims by the United Nations atomic watchdog that Iran has breached conditions of its non-proliferation obligations, critics of the Trump administration – and even some allies of the U.S. president – have seized on Tehran’s denials to question the justification of U.S. and Israeli military actions against the Islamic Republic.
Some have argued that the strikes were escalatory or unwarranted, citing Iran’s denials. Others say the strikes are evidence that Trump is as “power-mad” as many have painted him to be throughout his political career.
Tucker Carlson, a long-time ally of President Trump, argued that there was “zero credible intelligence” indicating Iran was “anywhere near” building a bomb, and pointed out that nations like Pakistan already possess nuclear weapons, making an Iranian bomb less exceptional than claimed by officials in Washington and Jerusalem.
Conservative media stalwart Steve Bannon echoed that same skepticism, suggesting that Trump’s rhetoric and willingness to strike Iran betrayed his “America First” non-interventionist positioning throughout his three presidential campaigns.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, led by Nihad Awad, also condemned the attacks as “illegal and unjustified.”
“We condemn President Trump’s illegal and unjustified act of war against Iran,” Awad said in the wake of Operation Midnight Hammer. “This attack, carried out under pressure from the out-of-control Israeli government, took place despite the longstanding conclusion by our nation’s intelligence community that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons.”
These critics and others take Iranian officials’ statements at face value and cite their denials as grounds to distrust Israeli intelligence – and, by extension, to question the legitimacy of the Israeli-U.S. military campaign.
Israel’s Iran Intelligence Took Decades to Obtain
Israel’s covert intelligence campaign inside Iran is unparalleled – and decades in the making. Working together, Israeli operatives and anti-regime Iranian sources have given Jerusalem deep access to Tehran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure. Israel’s clandestine presence within the inner workings of Iran’s nuclear program is so extensive that its intelligence services likely know nearly as much about the program as many of Iran’s own nuclear officials.
This outlet previously reported that Israel embedded operatives in Iran’s nuclear program more than 15 years ago, with intelligence agents monitoring multiple nuclear sites. Contents of leaked documents published by the New York Times revealed how Israel waged “years of covert intelligence-gathering” to assess the extent of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and the time it would take for the country to develop a nuclear weapon. The leaked intelligence documents suggested that Iran was not only racing to finish the job and likely develop a nuclear weapon, but that the program was far more extensive than originally believed and spread far beyond the three nuclear facilities targeted in Trump’s B-2 strikes.
Reporting from the Times of Israel in June also revealed how Israel “spent years preparing for the operation against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs,” going as far as building a drone base inside Iran and smuggling weapons systems and commandos over into Iran.
Citing an Israeli security official, the outlet claimed that Mossad agents established the base near Tehran. The drones were eventually activated and tasked with striking surface-to-surface missiles launched from Iran and aimed at Israel. The report also described how vehicles carrying weapons systems were smuggled into the country, and Mossad commandos deployed precision missiles close to anti-aircraft sites in central Iran.
And, as explained in an insightful piece for National Review by Sean Durns, Israel’s espionage apparatus has evolved over a period of decades. Initially missing the rise of Hezbollah in the 1980s, Israeli operatives began to launch sophisticated covert operations, starting with booby-trapped parcels sent to cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur in 1984, and later partnering with the CIA to kill Hezbollah deputy leader Imad Mughniyeh in 2008.
Given Israel’s documented history of successfully uncovering Iranian deceptions about its nuclear program, the only way to dismiss Israeli claims now is to believe that its government is knowingly deceiving its allies – and that Iran has been honest all along. The breadth and depth of evidence gathered over decades make that scenario, in my opinion, highly implausible.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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Jim
July 31, 2025 at 9:56 am
Given how long Iran has had the ability to build the bomb and hasn’t (at least technical know-how), due to religious scruples, likely for over a decade, but hasn’t, suggests child-like chants of repeat after me reflect more on the writer than on Iran.
Frankly, it’s the West’s actions along with Israel for decades which is pushing factions within Iran to want to race to the bomb.
See, the problem with warmongers is they project their own thoughts and attitudes onto their opponents or adversaries… and, make no mistake about it, if these warmongers didn’t have the bomb, they’d race right for getting a bomb… and, so, project that desire onto Iran.
(And, of course, they want to project their gross warmongering onto their opponents… “We’re not the aggressor, it’s the other side… they’re evil didn’t you know.)
Of course, when their actions make things worse, and it almost always does… then they want to absolve themselves from their own stupidity, warmongering, and disastrous strategy… which puts the U. S. in even deeper of a pickle, they, of course, blame the other side…
… for their own stupidity.
… warmongers never accept responsibility for their own screwups, they instinctively blame others, including patriotic Americans who call them out for who and what they are.
… dangerous ideologues who threaten the American People with their inflexible quest for conflict & war, damn the consequences for America.
That’s the secret, warmongers don’t give a damn about America… it’s just a tool for their vicarious thrill to power via military arms.