Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar told CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive interview that Israel did not know the exact timing of the strike on Iran when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Israel recently.
Responding to whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had indicated an attack was imminent during the visit, Azar said the timing of the operation was not known then. “We knew that there was tension in the region. However, we didn’t know the time of the attack during PM Modi’s visit,” he told CNBC-TV18.
Azar said the timing depended on intelligence inputs and the opportunity to target Iran’s Supreme Leader, the regime’s top leadership and military brass. “That is connected to intelligence and the opportunity to target their Supreme Leader and his entire military brass,” he said. He added that once the intelligence became available, the Israeli cabinet convened and approved the operation. “Once we got the intelligence, the Israeli cabinet convened on Saturday morning and approved the operation,” Azar said.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 in a joint operation, alleging Iran did not agree to halt its uranium enrichment. Iran has maintained it is not developing a nuclear weapon and pursues enrichment for civil use. During the joint strikes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed and several top military leaders were also killed.
Iran retaliated by attacking US bases located in various Gulf countries, expanding the conflict across the wider West Asian region. Since then, thousands of Iranians have been reported dead, and casualties are also feared in Israel. US President Trump said the strikes could continue for four to five weeks until US objectives to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites are met and there is no threat in the Middle East.
