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In late October, Israel retaliated against Iran for “months of continuous attacks” by the regime and its proxies with a series of airstrikes against military targets in Iran. 

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BREAKING: Israel Strikes Back at Iran, ‘Large Explosions’ in Tehran, Simultaneous ‘Explosions’ in Iraq

WATCH: IDF Speaks After Israel’s Massive Air Strikes on ‘Iran and Its Proxies’

On Friday, Axios published an exclusive report indicating that one of the sites destroyed by the strikes was, in fact, a secret nuclear weapons research facility.

Per the report:

The Israeli attack on Iran in late October destroyed an active top secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, according to three U.S. officials, one current Israeli official and one former Israeli official.

Why it matters: The strike — which targeted a site previously reported to be inactive — significantly damaged Iran’s effort over the past year to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

  • One former Israeli official briefed on the strike said it destroyed sophisticated equipment used to design the plastic explosives that surround uranium in a nuclear device and are needed to detonate it.
  • Iran has denied it is pursuing nuclear weapons. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement last week that “Iran is not after nuclear weapons, period.”
  • The Iranian mission to the UN declined to comment for this story.
  • The incoming Trump administration will include several key national security and foreign policy officials who are hawkish on Iran, which could lead to increased U.S. pressure on the Islamic Republic.

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Some added flavor here:

Flashback: Last June, the White House officials privately warned the Iranians in direct conversations about the suspicious research activities, Axios reported.

  • The U.S. hoped the warning would make the Iranians stop their nuclear activity, but they continued, the officials said.

A U.S. official said that in the months before the Israeli attack “there was concern across the board” about the Iranian activity at the Taleghan 2 facility.

  • The Iranian nuclear weapons research even led the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to change its assessment about the Iranian nuclear program.

You don’t say? 

The news comes on the heels of the arrest of a former CIA official for leaking classified documents regarding Israel’s plans ahead of the strike.

REPORT: FBI Arrests Former CIA Official for Leaking Documents About Israeli Counterattack Against Iran

Certainly, it will inform the incoming Trump administration and its posture toward Iran, expected to be considerably less…collegial than the Biden administration has been.