Lapid: Deal with Iran Depends on ‘Credible Military Option’

Lapid speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem. AP
Lapid speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem. AP
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Lapid: Deal with Iran Depends on ‘Credible Military Option’

Lapid speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem. AP
Lapid speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem. AP

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid considered that the nuclear agreement with Iran was “possible if a credible military threat is put on the table,” stressing that he instructed the army and Mossad leaders to prepare to defend Israel’s security.

“We are making a concerted effort to ensure the Americans and Europeans understand the dangers involved in this agreement,” Lapid said, stressing that the agreement signed in 2015 was “not a good deal,” and that the one currently being discussed involved “greater dangers.”

According to the Israeli premier, a new agreement would have to include an expiration date, and tighter supervision that would also “address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its involvement in terrorism throughout the Middle East.”

“We can reach such an agreement if a credible military threat is put on the table, if the Iranians realize that their defiance and deceit will have a heavy price,” Lapid said.

He added that the army and Mossad had “received instructions from us to prepare for any scenario.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli security source noted that official contacts were underway to arrange a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Lapid during the United Nations session next month in New York.

The source said that the proposed date was Sept. 20, following Biden’s speech before the UN, adding: “It is expected that the meeting, which may not take place on its announced date due to the two officials’ busy schedule, would be preceded by a telephone conversation that will be coordinated in the upcoming week.”

In parallel, a group of generals in Tel Aviv warned against any conflict with Washington over the ongoing talks with Iran.

General Amos Gilad, former head of the Political and Security Department in the Ministry of Defense, and General Yaakov Amidror, former head of the National Security Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that any attempt to prevent the nuclear agreement would fail.

“The US administration cannot force Iran to stop its nuclear or regional policy, neither through diplomatic means nor through sanctions,” they said, stressing the need for “a serious and convincing threat of the military option.”

Gilad said that Iran’s policy was a “central strategic threat to Israel.”

He pointed out that the country was seeking to turn into a “state with nuclear capabilities”, in addition to its ability to launch electronic attacks.



Ukraine Strikes Moscow in Biggest Drone Attack on Russian Capital

An apartment damaged by recent Ukraine's drone attack, according the local authorities, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region, is seen in this image released March 11, 2025. Governor of Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
An apartment damaged by recent Ukraine's drone attack, according the local authorities, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region, is seen in this image released March 11, 2025. Governor of Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
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Ukraine Strikes Moscow in Biggest Drone Attack on Russian Capital

An apartment damaged by recent Ukraine's drone attack, according the local authorities, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region, is seen in this image released March 11, 2025. Governor of Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
An apartment damaged by recent Ukraine's drone attack, according the local authorities, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Ramenskoye in the Moscow region, is seen in this image released March 11, 2025. Governor of Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on the Russian capital on Tuesday with at least 91 drones targeting Moscow, killing at least one person, sparking fires, closing airports and forcing dozens of flights to be diverted, Russian officials said.
A total of 337 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia, including 91 over the Moscow region and 126 over the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been pulling back, the defense ministry said.
As rush hour built, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses were still repelling attacks on the city, which along with the surrounding region has a population of at least 21 million and is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe.
"The most massive attack of enemy UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) on Moscow has been repelled," Sobyanin said in a post on Telegram.
Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said at least one person was killed and three injured, and he posted a picture of a wrecked apartment with its windows blown out.
Vorobyov said that some residents were forced to evacuate a multi-story building in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, about 50 km (31 miles) southeast of the Kremlin.
There was no sign of panic in Moscow, commuters went to work as normal in central Moscow.
Russia's aviation watchdog said flights were suspended at all four of Moscow's airports to ensure air safety after the attacks. Two other airports, in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions, both east of Moscow, were also closed.
Though US President Donald Trump says he wants to deliver peace in Ukraine, the war is heating up on the battlefield with a major Russian spring offensive in Kursk and a series of Ukrainian drone attacks deep into Russia.
Russia has developed a myriad of electronic "umbrellas" over Moscow and over key installations, with additional advanced internal layers over strategic buildings, and a complex web of air defenses to shoot down the drones before they reach the Kremlin in the heart of the capital.
Kyiv, itself the target of repeated mass drone strikes from Russian forces, has tried to strike back against its vastly larger eastern neighbor with repeated drone strikes against oil refineries, airfields and even Russian strategic early-warning radar stations.