Jerusalem — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Thursday that Iran can no longer enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles, saying the 20-day joint US-Israeli military campaign had delivered devastating and irreversible damage to the Islamic Republic’s war-making capacity.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem broadcast live to Israeli and international media on the twentieth day of the war, Netanyahu said the campaign had exceeded expectations on every front.
“We are winning, and Iran is being decimated,” he said. “Iran’s missile and drone arsenal is being massively degraded and will be destroyed. Hundreds of their launchers have been destroyed. Their stockpiles of missiles are being hit hard and so are the industries that produce them.”
Netanyahu did not provide evidence to support his claim that Iran no longer had the capacity to enrich uranium. The assertion has not been independently verified.
Nuclear Factories, Navy and Air Force ‘Destroyed’
Netanyahu said Israeli forces have moved beyond targeting missiles and drones and are now hitting the industrial infrastructure that makes them possible.
“What we’re destroying now are the factories that produce the components to make these missiles and to make the nuclear weapons that they’re trying to produce we’re wiping out their industrial base,” he said.
He went further, claiming Iran’s air defences, navy and air force have all been effectively neutralised.
“Iran’s air defences have been rendered useless. Their Navy is lying at the bottom of the sea. Today, we hit the other part of their Navy in the Caspian Sea. Their air force is nearly destroyed,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran’s command and control structure is in utter chaos. And I can tell you that there’s still more work to do, and we’re going to do it.”
Israel ‘Acted Alone’ on South Pars Gas Field — But Trump Asked Them to Stop
Netanyahu confirmed that Israel acted alone in striking Iran’s South Pars gas field the world’s largest natural gas reserve, which Iran shares with Qatar an attack that triggered retaliatory Iranian strikes on energy facilities across the Gulf and sent Brent crude surging to $115 a barrel on Thursday.
Trump had said on Wednesday night that Washington “knew nothing about this particular attack.” Netanyahu confirmed the contradiction, saying Trump had since asked Israel to hold back from further strikes on Iranian energy sites.
“President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we are holding off,” Netanyahu said.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned separately on Thursday that Tehran’s response to the South Pars strike had used “only a fraction” of its power, and threatened that there would be “zero restraint” if Iranian civilian infrastructure was struck again.
Qatar confirmed “extensive damage” at its main energy hub at Ras Laffan following the retaliatory strikes.
‘Does Anyone Think Someone Can Tell Trump What to Do?’
Netanyahu firmly rejected the widely reported claim that Israel had pulled the United States into a war it had not chosen to fight.
“Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on,” he said, calling the narrative “fake news.”
He said he and Trump “see eye to eye” on the Iranian threat, and argued the world owed Trump a debt of gratitude for launching Operation Epic Fury.
“If we had not struck Iran, within about a year Iran would have been able to build intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching not just Israel but the United States,” Netanyahu said.
He urged the world to consider the consequences of inaction. “If you think the oil markets are in trouble today, think of Iran with nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. Then think of the blackmail you would endure.”
‘I’m Not Sure Who’s Running Iran Right Now’
Netanyahu acknowledged the deep uncertainty at the top of Iran’s leadership structure following the systematic elimination of senior officials in recent weeks.
“I’m not sure who’s running Iran right now. Mojtaba, the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face,” he said, referring to newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei — who has made no public appearance since taking office.
“I think that the hole that Khamenei has left is not going to be filled by anyone not by Mojtaba if he’s there, and not by anyone else,” Netanyahu said. “What we see is a lot of tension inside the people who are angling for the top. We’re seeing cracks, and we’re trying to propagate them as fast as we can. Not only in the top command we’re seeing cracks in the field.”
Israel has in recent days claimed the killings of Ali Larijani, Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani and intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib in targeted strikes systematically removing the senior figures who ran Iran’s internal security and overseas operations.
Regime Change — ‘Up to the Iranian People’
Netanyahu said the question of whether Iranians would rise up to overthrow the clerical regime was ultimately theirs to answer.
“It’s up to the Iranian people to show that, to choose the moment and to rise to the moment,” he said.
He said the war had exposed Iran for what it truly is, comparing the world’s muted response to early Iranian aggression to the international community’s failure to confront Nazi Germany before the Second World War. “People want to be naive. They don’t want to see what kind of world we’re living in,” he said.
Nationwide anti-government protests had erupted across Iran in early January 2026, fuelled by economic collapse and anger at clerical rule what activists described as the most significant unrest in decades. Iranian authorities responded with a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.
War ‘Ending a Lot Faster Than People Think’
Despite saying there was “still more work to do,” Netanyahu suggested the conflict’s end may be closer than the public expects.
“I also see this war ending a lot faster than people think,” he said.
Trump had similarly declared earlier this week that there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran. However, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the campaign would continue “without any time limit” — and Iranian foreign minister Araghchi’s threat of zero restraint suggests Tehran is far from ready to stand down.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres said on Thursday: “It’s high time to end this war that is risking to get out of control, causing immense suffering on civilians, with dramatic effects on the global economy.”
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began on February 28, according to human rights group Hrana. At least 1,001 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israeli strikes began there on March 2, according to Lebanese health authorities.
For the latest on the Iran conflict and Operation Epic Fury, visit M10News.com.
This is a developing story. Updates will follow as more facts are confirmed.
