NYT: Another Israel-Iran war increasingly seen as just a matter of time; Tehran aims to be able to fire 2,000 missiles at once

Middle East officials and experts increasingly believe that the Israel-Iran war in June caused less damage to Tehran’s nuclear program than previously thought, deeming another armed confrontation only a matter of time, according to The New York Times.

“Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, enough to make 11 nuclear weapons, is either buried under rubble, as Iran claims, or has been spirited away to a safe place, as Israeli officials believe,” the report says.

This, coupled with intensive Iranian work on a new enrichment site it refuses to give international inspectors access to, makes many in the Gulf think that another Israeli attack is “almost inevitable,” it adds.

The Times quotes Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, as saying that Tehran has greatly increased its missile production, working around the clock in hopes of being able to “fire 2,000 at once to overwhelm Israeli defenses, not 500 over 12 days,” as happened in the June war, in which 28 Israelis were killed.

“Israel feels the job is unfinished and sees no reason not to resume the conflict, so Iran is doubling down preparedness for the next round,” Vaez adds.