US and Israel preparing to attack Iran within a week, state TV pundit says

One of the main drivers behind Israel’s decision to strike Iran this month was a highly alarming breakthrough in Iran’s nuclear program, which suggested it was much closer to a nuclear bomb than previously believed by Israeli officials, a report by Israel's Channel 12 said.

The report added that a group of Iranian scientists had been secretly working on nuclear weapons development in a way that caused serious concern among Israeli intelligence and leadership.

It said that the operation aimed to stop this effort and specifically target the scientists involved — who, according to the report, “were indeed eliminated.”

French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart called for Tehran's return to the negotiating table to address ballistic and nuclear issues, and for the resumption of the IAEA's work in Iran, his X account said.

He also called on Tehran to respect the ceasefire with Israel and to help restore peace in the region, the post on his X said.

Macron said he also called for the release of French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris and the protection of French nationals and facilities in Iran, which "must not be subject to any threats."

The United States intercepted private communications between senior Iranian officials discussing the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, in which the officials said the attacks were less damaging than expected, The Washington Post reported, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.

In the exchanges, Iranian officials speculated on why the strikes ordered by President Donald Trump were not as extensive or destructive as they had anticipated, the report added citing the unnamed sources.

The Trump administration did not dispute the existence of the intercepted messages but firmly rejected the Iranian assessment, casting doubt on Tehran’s ability to evaluate the level of destruction at the three targeted nuclear facilities.

“It’s shameful that The Washington Post is helping people commit felonies by publishing out-of-context leaks,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over.”

"The US president exaggerated what happened in an unusual way, revealing that he needed to do so," reads a new post on the X account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"Anyone hearing those remarks could sense that behind the surface, there was another reality. They failed to achieve anything and are exaggerating in order to cover up and conceal the truth."

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would consider lifting sanctions against Iran, including those targeting its oil exports, if the country shows it is willing to stop hostile behavior and pursue a more peaceful course.

“Sanctions cost us a lot of money but I would... start waiving them for countries like Iran, if they behave themselves, where they can sell oil and they can do the things that you want to be able to do," Trump told Fox News in an interview aired on Sunday.

Trump denied suggestions that his administration had allowed China to buy sanctioned Iranian oil, insisting that sanctions remained in place.

But he added that “if they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they’re not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.”

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