Israel has allocated $1.5 billion to bolster its capabilities to undermine Iran's nuclear facilities, Channel 12 News reported on Monday.
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The funds – about $1 billion in this year's budget and over $500 million in next year's budget – will go towards aircraft, intelligence gathering, and dedicated armaments that can enable a potential strike.
The intelligence gathering could include satellites, according to the report.
The Islamic republic insists that its nuclear efforts are strictly for civilian and peaceful purposes, but Israeli intelligence – shared with world powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency – shows that Tehran has and continues to maintain a nuclear military program. Israel deems the latter an existential threat and has stated that it will not allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state.
Iran's violations of the 2015 nuclear deal – officially the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – have rendered it hollow. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal. President Joe Biden has stated that he seeks to formulate a new deal with Iran, stressing he plans to exhaust all diplomatic options vis-à-vis Iran before devising a "Plan B."
While Israel is planning a possible military option to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions, world powers are working to bring the Islamic Republic back to the negotiating table in Vienna in an attempt to restart talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear accord.
The talks have been stalled since June when hardliner Ebrahim Raisi was elected president, but in recent days there have been conflicting reports that the negotiations could resume soon, possibly next week.
It was reported in Iranian media on Sunday that a meeting was to take place in Brussels on Thursday to discuss resuming the Vienna talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian had reportedly confirmed the Brussels meeting.
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However, the European Union on Monday denied that a meeting had been scheduled for Thursday, contradicting Tehran.
EU Spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told AFP on Monday that "there will not be a meeting Thursday," adding that "at this stage, we cannot confirm if or when a meeting will take place."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
