Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Friday that Iran’s uranium enrichment program was history, destroyed over the course of twenty days of intensive Israeli military operations. He also announced that Iran’s ballistic missile production had been eliminated and rejected claims about Israeli responsibility for US entry into the conflict. Netanyahu was confident and forward-looking throughout the press conference, suggesting the war’s end was closer than most realized.
The prime minister addressed his relationship with Donald Trump in notably personal terms. He described the coordination between them as historically unprecedented and positioned Trump as the alliance’s leader. Netanyahu revealed that Trump had independently articulated the full scope of Iran’s nuclear threat to him, reflecting an analytical depth and independence that Netanyahu said set Trump apart as a strategic partner.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel acted alone in striking the South Pars gas compound and disclosed Trump’s request to pause further attacks on Iranian gas facilities. He treated both the military action and the diplomatic communication as natural features of a close and functioning alliance. Netanyahu was consistent in maintaining that Israel’s right to independent military decision-making had not been restricted.
On Iran’s Hormuz threats, Netanyahu dismissed them as hollow blackmail that would not succeed. He proposed pipeline routes from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a lasting structural solution. Netanyahu argued this infrastructure would create long-term resilience against Iranian maritime pressure and transform the region’s energy landscape.
Netanyahu closed with observations about Iran’s leadership vacuum. He noted Mojtaba had not appeared publicly during the conflict and admitted he was genuinely unsure who was governing Iran. Netanyahu pointed to the visible competition for power in Tehran and concluded that this political instability, combined with military losses, was pushing the war toward a sooner-than-expected conclusion.