Israeli Attack on Iran

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 During Prime Minister Netanyahu’s tenure after 2009, Israel has threatened multiple times to act militarily to destroy or set back Iran’s nuclear program. Israel, which for decades has presumably maintained a nuclear arsenal but has not officially acknowledged it, has taken preemptive action against nuclear programs in the region—destroying an Iraqi facility in 1981 and a Syrian one in 2007. In the 2010s, Israel apparently executed a number of covert actions against Iranian facilities and personnel to disrupt and delay the program. Alongside U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports, the Obama Administration led international efforts to reach a 2015 agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), which placed new physical constraints, as well as inspection and monitoring provisions, on Iran’s nuclear program. In 2018, President Trump (with strong support from Netanyahu) ended U.S. participation in the JCPOA, citing what he described as the accord’s defects, and increased sanctions on Iran. Approximately a year later, Iran began nuclear activities that exceeded limits set forth in the JCPOA. 

Hamas-led attacks on Israel in 2023 were followed by broader regional conflict between Israel and Iran’s “axis of resistance.” Direct clashes between Israel and Iran in April and October 2024 and Israel’s large-scale degradation of Hezbollah (a key Iranian ally) in Lebanon prompted serious discussion in Israel about whether and when to act against Iran’s nuclear program. Having seemingly mostly neutralized Hezbollah’s missile threat and ostensibly weakened Iran’s air defenses and ballistic missile production capacity, Israeli leaders reportedly explored plans, including with U.S. counterparts, to strike Iran’s nuclear program amid increasing discussion of the oncetaboo subject of weaponization in Iran. Some of President Trump’s public comments discouraged attacks while U.S. officials engaged in diplomacy with Iran after April 2025.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS)

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