The Israeli military said Friday that it remains on high alert and ready to return to fighting in both Iran and Lebanon if the fragile ceasefires in both countries collapse or expire without an extension in the coming weeks, in a somewhat pessimistic assessment of the truces announced by US President Donald Trump.
Briefing reporters, several senior military officials said that the Israel Defense Forces believes it dealt a severe blow to Iran amid the 40-day war, though the Islamic Republic will likely return to rebuilding its capabilities that threaten Israel.
The officials said that the IDF hopes that negotiations between the United States and Iran will be successful, and handle the issue of Iran’s stockpile of over 400 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium, which Israeli officials have said is enough for 11 nuclear bombs.
However, if the negotiations fall through, the IDF has already drawn up plans with its partners at US Central Command to return to striking Iran, with an emphasis on energy sites, which the officials said would be aimed at pressuring the regime into a deal.
In strikes on Iranian gas infrastructure, steel factories, and petrochemical facilities, along with attacks on military sites during the war, the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate estimated that it had caused Iran at least 100 billion dollars in damage.
One military official said that the IDF could double that damage, or more, should it be instructed by Israel’s political leadership to return to fighting.
The military’s thinking behind the financial damage to Iran was to cause officials in the Islamic Republic to face a dilemma of whether or not they should again invest money into the regime’s weapons production industry.
The IDF has said that the most significant blow during the war was to Iran’s arms production industry, with the military reporting that it struck all of the key sites used to develop weapons that threaten Israel.
Israel has said that these strikes have caused significant damage to Iran’s ballistic missile production industry, and as a result, it currently cannot manufacture any new missiles.
However, the officials said that they assess that Iran will quickly work to return some manufacturing capabilities.
Israel’s goals for the war were to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime.
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