Israel needs US strikes to cripple Iran’s nuclear sites, says ex-Israeli diplomat

In an interview with Al Jazeera, former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas dissected Israel’s assassination of Iran’s wartime armed forces chief, Ali Shadmani, telling host Sami Zeidan the strike aligned with Israel’s targeted campaign against Revolutionary Guard leadership rather than signalling escalation. He stressed that meaningful de-escalation would require coherent US mediation—a prospect complicated by President Trump’s inconsistent statements. Pinkas argued that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political gains depend on forcing Iran back into nuclear negotiations, as Israel lacks the capacity to unilaterally destroy Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, notably the fortified Fordow site. While acknowledging Israeli military planners’ desire for US strikes, he dismissed regime change as unrealistic given Iran’s scale and Israel’s ongoing Gaza operations. The exchange grew contentious when Zeidan challenged Pinkas’ claim that Iran frames the conflict in religious terms, with the diplomat citing historical Iranian rhetoric conflating Zionism and Judaism—a point Zeidan disputed by referencing Tehran’s official distinctions between Jews and the Israeli state. Pinkas maintained that Israel’s tangible achievements may be limited to degrading Iran’s air defences and delaying nuclear progress, underscoring the gap between Netanyahu’s ambitions and strategic realities. 📝 Sources & Clarifications: These statements clarify Iran’s long-standing distinction between Judaism as a faith and Zionism as a political ideology, a key point in the exchange between Alon Pinkas and Sami Zeidan: 📌 “We have no problems with Jews and highly respect Judaism as a holy religion.” — Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, October 28, 2005 🔗 https://mg.co.za/article/2005-10-28-iranian-leader-defends-antiisraeli-remarks/ 📌 “Zionism is divisive; a century has passed since the onset of Zionism, but not every Jew is a Zionist…” — Rafsanjani, January 2, 2002 🔗 https://www.memri.org/reports/former-iranian-president-rafsanjani-using-nuclear-bomb-against-israel 📌 “We have no problems with Jewish people. There are many Jews who live in Iran today…” — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, June 14, 2009 🔗 https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2009-06-14/segment/01 📌 “I do not believe that Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and others... are hostile against each other.” — Ahmadinejad, UN General Assembly speech, September 26, 2012 🔗 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-ir/dv/ahmadinejad_un_sep_20/ahmadinejad_un_sep_2012.pdf 📌 “We believe that all the people who live there... should take part in a free referendum and choose their government.” — Ahmadinejad, September 18, 2008 🔗 https://archive.ph/ev7NF#selection-787.0-787.262 These statements clarify Iran’s official distinction between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political ideology, a key point disputed during the interview. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Israel #Iran #DonaldTrump #BenjaminNetanyahu #IranIsraelWar #IranNuclearProgram #IranUraniumEnrichment #IsraelIranConflict #OperationRisingLion #TruePromise3