Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared with striking clarity on Friday that Iran could no longer enrich uranium or conduct meaningful ballistic missile strikes after twenty days of conflict, saying effectively that the war had been won in military terms. He rejected reports about Israeli manipulation of US policy. Netanyahu expressed confidence throughout the press conference that the formal end to the conflict was approaching faster than most observers believed.
The prime minister addressed the Trump-Israel partnership with directness and pride. He described their coordination as historically unprecedented and framed Trump as the alliance’s leader. Netanyahu revealed that Trump had brought his own independently formed understanding of Iran’s nuclear threat to their joint discussions, reflecting a deep and genuine strategic alignment.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel struck the South Pars gas compound alone and disclosed Trump’s personal request to pause further strikes on Iranian gas infrastructure. He presented both facts openly, treating them as natural features of a close and mature alliance. Netanyahu maintained throughout that Israel’s military autonomy remained fully intact.
Iran’s Hormuz threats drew a sharp rebuttal from Netanyahu. He called them empty blackmail and proposed pipeline corridors from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a lasting structural solution. Netanyahu argued this infrastructure would permanently remove the Hormuz chokepoint as an Iranian strategic weapon.
Netanyahu ended with observations about Iran’s leadership dysfunction. He said Mojtaba had not been seen publicly and admitted genuine uncertainty about who was governing the country. Netanyahu pointed to the intense power competition in Tehran and concluded that this chaos, combined with military losses, was accelerating the war’s conclusion.
