The challenge for Israel: Prevail against Hamas while preventing an Iranian nuclear breakout

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, a critical benefit of the war in Gaza is that it distracts both Israel and its closest allies from Tehran’s systematic march toward a nuclear weapons capability. This past week, the International Atomic Energy Agency — the UN’s nuclear watchdog — reported that the Islamic Republic has continued to violate its commitments and expand its stockpile of enriched uranium, including uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, which is almost weapons-grade and has no civilian use in Iran. All the while, the regime has continued to stonewall UN inspectors.

For good reason, the IDF’s immediate priority is to fulfill completely the cabinet’s instruction to eliminate all Hamas military, governmental, and organizational capabilities from Gaza, capture or kill all Hamas leaders and those responsible for, and participating in, the massacre of October 7, and liberate the 238 hostages still being held by the terrorists. However, while prioritizing Gaza, Israel must also prevent the regime in Iran from taking advantage of this moment to achieve its nuclear ambitions.

There is an ongoing debate about whether Tehran gave Hamas a specific time and green light for the October 7 attack. But the brutal aggression was undoubtedly part of the Islamic Republic’s decades-long effort to destroy Israel. Specifically, it was the first stage in Tehran’s grand plan to drag Israel into a multi-front campaign in which the Islamic Republic would not take part directly. The doctrine and weapons used by Hamas’ “Nukhba” commando forces were copied from Hezbollah’s “Radwan” forces. This means that doctrine and training came from Iran, financed by Iranian money, and relied on knowledge, planning, and training under the auspices of Hezbollah and other tentacles of the Islamic Republic’s octopus.

It is very likely that the final stage of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s plan is to take advantage of the world’s focus on Gaza to produce and conceal enough military-grade fissile material for several bombs, and to achieve a breakthrough in its weaponization program to build a nuclear warhead. The warhead is the last stage he requires after enrichment and the development of long-range missiles for a deliverable nuclear weapon. In effect, Khamenei set off in Gaza a weapon of mass distraction to advance his aspiration of building his own weapon of mass destruction.

The White House insists Tehran did not give a green light for the October 7 attack, but that is no exoneration. As Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, observed, Iran is “complicit” in the atrocities of October 7 because “They have provided funding, training, and capabilities.” READ MORE