Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube, Dan De Luce and Carol E. Lee – NBC News Dec 20, 2025
Israeli officials have grown increasingly concerned that Iran is expanding production of its ballistic missile program, which was damaged by Israeli military strikes earlier this year, and are preparing to brief President Donald Trump about options for attacking it again, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plans and four former U.S. officials briefed on the plans.
Israeli officials also are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June, the sources said. But, they added, the officials view Iran’s efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems as more immediate concerns.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet later this month in Florida at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate. At that meeting, the sources said, Netanyahu is expected to make the case to Trump that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action.
They said part of his argument is expected to be that Iran’s actions present perils not only to Israel but also to the broader region, including U.S. interests. The Israeli leader is expected to present Trump with options for the U.S. to join or assist in any new military operations, the sources said.
Asked Thursday about a Dec. 29 meeting with Netanyahu, Trump told reporters, “We haven’t set it up formally, but he’d like to see me.” Israeli officials have announced a Dec. 29 meeting.
The Israeli government declined to comment. The Iranian Mission at the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian government corroborated the United States government’s assessment that Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “As President Trump has said, if Iran pursued a nuclear weapon, that site would be attacked and would be wiped out before they even got close.”
Israel’s plans to brief Trump on — and give him the option to join — possible additional military strikes in Iran come as the president is considering military strikes in Venezuela, which would open a new warfront for the U.S., and as he is touting his administration’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program and success negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Trump said told Americans he’s “destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East.”
The Israeli concerns about Iran come as Tehran has expressed interest in resuming diplomatic talks with the U.S. aimed at curtailing its nuclear deal, which could potentially complicate Israel’s approaching Trump about new strikes.
The funding of Iranian proxies in the region also is top of mind for the Israelis, according to the person with direct knowledge of Israel’s plans.
“The nuclear weapons program is very concerning. There’s an attempt to reconstitute. It’s not that immediate,” this person said.
The strikes the U.S. conducted in June against Iran, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, included more than 100 aircraft, a submarine and seven B-2 bombers. Trump has said they “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites, though some early assessments indicated the damage may not have been as extensive as the president has said.
Israeli forces at the same time struck several of Iran’s ballistic missile sites.
Israeli military strikes in April and October 2024 also damaged all of Iran’s S-300 air defense systems, the most advanced system the country operates, clearing the way for manned flights into Iranian airspace months later by dramatically reducing the threat to pilots.
Unlike strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program, direct U.S. military involvement was needed to significantly damage Iran’s nuclear sites as that required American-made 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs.
Last week, Trump hinted he might be open to returning to talks with Iran, while also warning Tehran against trying to reconstitute its ballistic missile or nuclear programs.
He said Iran “can try” to rebuild its ballistic missile program, but “it’s going to take them a long time to come back.”
“But if they do want to come back without a deal, then we’re going to obliterate that one, too,” Trump said. “You know, we can knock out their missiles very quickly, we have great power.”
Prior to the strikes in June, the Israelis had presented Trump with four options for military action, according to the person with direct knowledge of Israel’s plans. Israeli officials laid out the options on a coffee table in the Oval Office, this person said. One involved Israel going it alone, another included limited U.S. support, a third was the U.S. and Israel conducting joint operations against Iran, and a fourth had the U.S. conducting the operation on its own, this person said. Ultimately Trump decided to approve a joint operation. The person with direct knowledge of Israel’s plans suggested Netanyahu may present Trump with a similar set of options during their Mar-a-Lago meeting.
The fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is also expected to feature prominently in the talks between Netanyahu and Trump, amid concerns both sides are failing to take action to carry out the next phase of the deal.
Under the second stage of the agreement, Israel is supposed to withdraw its forces from Gaza, and an interim body is to assume authority over the Palestinian enclave instead of Hamas. An international stabilization force also is supposed to be deployed to Gaza.
Trump could be less enthusiastic about new military action in Iran if there continues to be friction between U.S. and Israeli officials over Netanyahu’s approach to the ceasefire, two former Israeli officials said.
Left unchecked, Iran’s production of ballistic missiles could increase to as many as 3,000 per year, according to the person with direct knowledge of Israel’s plans and former U.S. officials briefed on the plans.
The threat of ballistic missiles, and the number of them that the Iranians could use in an attack, is Israel’s most immediate concern, said one of the former Israeli officials who has discussed the concerns with current Israeli officials.
“There is no real question after the last conflict that we can gain aerial superiority and can do far more damage to Iran than Iran can do to Israel,” the official said. “But the threat of the missiles is very real, and we weren’t able to prevent them all last time.”
A large volume of ballistic missiles would help Iran better defend its nuclear enrichment sites, the person with direct knowledge of Israel’s plans and one of the former U.S. officials briefed on the plans said. They said Israeli officials have the same concerns about Iran rebuilding its missile defense systems and funding and arming its proxies in the region, believing Tehran would then fast track reconstituting its nuclear program because it would better be able to defend its enrichment sites.
““But if they do want to come back without a deal, then we’re going to obliterate that one, too,” Trump said. “You know, we can knock out their missiles very quickly, we have great power.” What a disgusting revolting arrogant Prick Trump is. Iran never wanted anything to do with a war in the first place. The U.S. being subverted by Jewish/Israeli operatives for many years now is directly responsible for this deplorable situation.
It’s not like Satanyahoo is coming to ask permission to the paid whores in America, he’s coming to issue orders on what he expects from them. Unfortunately it’s to the detriment of America that we have a Zionist president and paid whore Congress!!
None of this aggression against Iran is detached from the war in the Ukraine, the southern and eastern oblasts of which nation were ceded to it by Stalin in 1922, and which the people in those territories are Russian-speaking and have consistently voted to be a part of Russia ever since the illustrious ZOG-USA coup in 2014. The entire conflict is obviously so very fraudulent at its core.
The ZeroHedge article by David Stockman is most instructive regarding the actual history, and also indicates how contrived the war in the Ukraine actually is:
“The Real Story Behind The Russia–Ukraine War… And What Happens Next”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/stockman-real-story-behind-russia-ukraine-war-and-what-happens-next?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6757
Russia is surrounded by US bases. It is only spending 6% of its budget on the military. The US spends 13% of its budget on the military.
Russia has a GDP the size of Canada’s but has 3 times its population to support. The US has a GDP over 10 times that of Russia and a population twice the size of Russia. The EU has a GDP which is about 7 times that of Russia.
The evidence is that despite all of the carnage mainly suffered by Ukrainian soldiers, all of the provocations against Russia to entice (i.e. “invite”) the Russian invasion of February 2022 came from US-led sources. In addition to the US essentially starting the war in the Donbas after its 2014 coup of the Ukrainian government, following all of the billions for bribery and destabilizing efforts beginning in 2011, Zelensky was put in 2019 during the first ZOG Trump administration purely in order to step up the provocations and to ensure the very planned and smooth “invasion” by Russia.
Cui bono? Who benefits? Russia gets back the southern and easter territories of the Ukraine which Stalin ceded to it in 1922. In exchange, Russia agreed to give up its paper-tiger and ineffective defense of Syria, which defense nation it abandoned right on Trump’s return to office in late 2024. However, the Russian occupations are being permitted to spread such that all of the Ukrainian oblasts which Russia held before 1922 are occupied by Russia, in exchange for which Russia, which cannot really protect its own borders from the Chinese, will also abandon any support for Iran. In the meantime, and because of the war in the Ukraine, the spending for both the US and the Russian arms industries have been greatly increased.
Incidentally, Russian natural-gas pipelines through the Ukraine to the EU were never disrupted during the war, which is another irrefutable fact regarding how contrived the war actually is. What about the alleged slaughter of the combatants? For the spoils of Iran there likely are no limits the monsters running our nations will go in the way of either deception or the actual killing of people they deem expendable.
Also, regarding Greenland, it is not needed to defend any shipping lanes in the Arctic. The US wants it for tis resources, collateral for its debt, and in order to wage its weather wars more effectively over Europe and Asia.
Unfortunately, Stokman, like most journalists these days, has that special knack of missing the obvious likely due to his narrow focus and his inability to see the actual priorities of the mainly Rothschild-controlled powers regarding self-assertive, resource & asset rich nations such as Iraq, Libya, Syria and Iran, all of which at one time “appeared” to be dependent on Russian arms and support.
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some good comments here
Idris Elba ( a black actor) knighted following campaign against youth violence
Story by Casey Cooper-Fiske and Kerri-Ann Roper •
er not exactly sucessful was he ?
anyway i thought only pedos got nighthoods
https://dxltb3n5j8l6j.cloudfront.net/713529/uploads/fbd05a40-6821-11ef-8b6e-8be95726fff7_1200_630.jpeg
26 December https://www.newsbreak.com/raw-story-2096750/4414033755832-touch-some-grass-concern-raised-about-trump-s-mental-state-after-christmas-meltdown
https://ui.prt.news/hea5u70tas26ny9x.jpeg “Get a load of his Reptilian eyes!! 👀 He’s high on his Adderall–it makes your pupils Dilate! Nothing like a little nose candy for courage! Fat Old Spanky is Lit!! 🔥👃🏻❄️❄️❄️”/”Just look at that face. That’s the face of pure evil. I Hate Trump !”
https://ui.prt.news/hed4nwpyf514prnq.jpeg
https://ui.prt.news/hea6qdnaht41i50k.jpeg ” He talks to us as if we’re all as gullible as his cult. His lies don’t work on us, and to think he’s the president makes me sick,/ “Trump is batshit crazy”/”Such a sad, pathetic little man.”/ “He is nuts 🌰 and belongs in a mental institution”/”Damn, there is a lot of hate in those eyes.”
https://ui.prt.news/heacyr12ou39dbhk.jpeg “There’s nothing in the world more dangerouis than an idiot who thinks he is a genius/ He really has lost his mind. I think he had a minor stroke a few months ago and it made him 10 times worse and he was pretty bad before then. Impeach him now before it’s too late.”/
“the 25th Amendment needs to be used”
“They’re concerned about his mental state Now? He’s a racist, a sexual predator, a traitor, and a threat to everything this country stands for.”/”For a racist that hates people of a different hue he sure has a lot of different colors 😎/” This person has to go! He is very sick and he is doing nothing good for this country. Wake up people. Get rid of him!”/” We All know whats going on here. When will our Congress fix it??!!
https://ui.prt.news/head2h7por39dbhk.jpeg “New Poll/ drumpf is officially the most unpopular pres. in
modern American history/ This man is evil incarnate. impeach him now!”/”I’m not concerned about trumps mental illness. I’m concerned about what he’ll do because of it!!”/ “👍👍👍”/” A psychiatrist responded that drumpf belongs in a White Straight Jacket not the White House.”
“He’s delusional. He thinks these things he says are true. when he knows they’re not.”/”Isn’t obvious to all by now that trump has severe mental issues and its getting worse by the day. Any president who has a mentality like this is not fit for the office , he is an embarrassment for our country and should be removed. Other countries are laughing at the narcissistic socialpath ”
“His mental state is so far beyond a joke at this point and has been for some time. It really seems like something has broken; I dont know if its something like a psychotic break or something like a stroke or tumor but he isn’t fit to be in office…….He is so unhinged, I expect someone to come on TV and tell us we’ve been punked or something b/c this has been some mess only seen in movies… like really, wtf?!?!?! ”
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” If this isn’t enough for all of America regardless of political party to join together and demand that Congress impeach and remove him from office, then our 250 year old Republic is lost. History will not be kind to those who let this happen. ” /”He is receiving IV treatment for his dementia. His dementia makes him extremely dangerous not only to the USA, but to the entire world as well. drumpf is a sick, sick creature.”
“Honestly how much more of a nutcase does he have to be before someone steps in 😳🙄”
29 February 2016 https://dxltb3n5j8l6j.cloudfront.net/713529/uploads/fbd05a40-6821-11ef-8b6e-8be95726fff7_1200_630.jpeg Drumpf is old Prussian for: bags to catch manure falling from horses”/ Matt Lipton
Repeat Service Anouncement/ USA: drop THSB Trojan Horse Shit Bag drumpf in a garbage container
Anyway every body anywhere
h.a.n.d. have a nice day
CIA O
Israel has no strategic depth. You cannot pick Tel Aviv up and move it. Ditto Dimona nuclear reactor, ditto the port of Haifa.
A massive salvo of ballistic missiles could end Israel as a first world state. Of course we would then have the Samson option, where Israel would nuke Iran and possibly other places.
The development of sophisticated missile technology in the middle East certainly makes one think that the Israeli’s know their time in the middle East is over, so they initiated the Ukraine war to depopulate it of men so the Jews can flee there over the coming years.
Nothing is ever what it seems.
I hate this triumphalic picture of them both
and this Kuchner in background looking on
always like wise man, what he surely not is .
only coming from rich circles . pride of money
creates power + connections .