Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday declared what he described as a “historic victory” following a 12-day military confrontation with Iran, pledging that Israel would not allow Tehran to reconstruct its nuclear infrastructure.
In a nationally televised address delivered shortly after the commencement of a mutually agreed ceasefire, Netanyahu stated, “We have achieved a historic victory,” framing the outcome as a strategic milestone in Israel’s ongoing efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional influence.
“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he told viewers in the near-10-minute speech.
“We have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project. And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he added.
The head of Israel’s military Eyal Zamir said earlier on Tuesday that its strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme “by years” and the campaign against the country was now “entering a new phase”.
Iran said on Tuesday that it was ready to return to nuclear negotiations with the United States as the ceasefire took hold.
But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic power.
Israel’s government said in a statement earlier Tuesday that it had removed the “dual existential threat” of Iran’s nuclear programme and missiles during its strikes.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s attack on Iran, named “Operation Rising Lion”, would be “recorded in the annals of Israel’s wars, and will be studied by armies all over the world.”
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The Israeli campaign included a series of coordinated strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure, alongside the reported assassinations of senior military and intelligence officials. Strategic sites such as state-run media facilities and the notorious Evin prison in Tehran were also bombed.
Following the U.S. entry into the conflict with airstrikes on Sunday, President Donald Trump declared that American forces had “totally obliterated” Iran’s primary nuclear installations.
Despite these claims, security analysts remain cautious, noting that Iran may have preemptively relocated its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, casting doubt on whether the threat has been fully neutralized. Tehran, for its part, continues to assert that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and denies any ambition to develop nuclear weapons.