Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear Sunday that the conflict with Iran is far from finished, warning that major threats still remain despite the extensive military campaign carried out by Israel and the United States earlier this year.
During an interview on 60 Minutes, Netanyahu revealed that Donald Trump wants Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile physically removed from the country as part of broader efforts to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear capabilities.
The military operation against Iran began on Feb. 28 after negotiations surrounding the regime’s nuclear program collapsed. Since then, the United States and Israel have conducted a large-scale campaign targeting Iranian leadership, military infrastructure, and nuclear-related facilities.
According to Netanyahu, the strikes achieved “a great deal,” but he emphasized that significant objectives still remain unfinished.
“There’s still nuclear material, enriched uranium, that has to be taken out of Iran,” Netanyahu said. “There’s still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled.”
He also warned that Iran continues supporting proxy groups across the Middle East while still maintaining ambitions involving ballistic missile production.
“We’ve degraded a lot of it,” Netanyahu explained, “but all that is still there, and there’s work to be done.”
The remarks reinforce growing concerns among U.S. and Israeli officials that Iran could eventually attempt to rebuild portions of its nuclear infrastructure if pressure eases too soon. And after years of watching Tehran play diplomatic hide-and-seek with the international community, skepticism is understandably pretty high.
Trump’s reported push to physically remove enriched uranium signals a much tougher posture than previous administrations that often relied heavily on temporary agreements and international monitoring systems critics argued Iran repeatedly exploited.
For supporters of the current strategy, the goal is simple: prevent Iran from ever reaching the point where it can threaten the region or the world with a nuclear weapon.
As tensions remain high across the Middle East, Netanyahu’s comments suggest both Israel and the Trump administration view the recent campaign not as an ending, but as part of a much larger effort to permanently dismantle Iran’s military and nuclear ambitions.