The new intelligence obtained by the United States suggests that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear installations, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing several American officials familiar with information.
It was not clear if the Israeli leaders had made a final decision and there was a disagreement in the US government to know if they would finally decide to carry out strikes, added CNN, citing civil servants.
The report could not be confirmed immediately. The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The Washington Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond, nor the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, which was contacted after hours.
A familiar source with intelligence has told CNN that the probability of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear installation “has increased considerably in recent months.”
The person added that the chance of a strike would be more likely for the United States to conclude an agreement with Iran, which did not delete all the uranium in the country, added CNN.
The administration of the American president Donald Trump carried out negotiations with Iran aimed at concluding a diplomatic agreement on his nuclear program, and the CNN report cited American officials saying that a Israeli strike would mark a major break with Trump.
President Donald Trump, on the left, shakes the hand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while he left the west wing of the White House, on April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP photo / Mark Schiefelbein)
The new intelligence was based on public and private communications of senior Israeli officials as well as intercepted Israeli communications and the observations of Israeli military movements that could suggest an imminent strike, CNN reported.
CNN has cited two sources saying that among the military preparations, the United States had observed, there was the movement of air ammunition and the completion of an air exercise, although the report noted that the movements could be part of an Israeli pressure campaign against Iran rather than an indicator of a possible strike.
Earlier Tuesday, the supreme head of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the requirements of the United States declared that Tehran ceases enriching uranium was “excessive and scandalous,” reported that state media, expressing doubts about whether talks about a new nuclear agreement will succeed.
With the negotiations in progress, a source that CNN described as familiar with the thought of the Trump administration has said that the United States probably helped Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear program at the moment, while an American official said that intelligence efforts are repeating to help if Israeli leaders decide to attack.
The report also cited a familiar source with the question saying that Israel cannot afford to withdraw the nuclear program from Iran without American aid, although an Israeli source said that Israel was ready to act alone if Washington negotiates a “bad business” with Tehran who is unacceptable to Jerusalem.
“I think it is more likely that they are trying to try to make the agreement disintegrate if they think that Trump will be content with a” bad deal “,” said a person familiar with American intelligence CNN. “The Israelis did not hesitate to point out that for us … both publicly and in private.”
The supreme chief, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks during a memorial in Tehran, Iran, on May 20, 2025 for the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter accident last year. (Office of the Iranian supreme chief via AP)
CNN’s report follows a report in the New York Times last month on the way Trump “agitated” an Israeli strike planned for the Iranian nuclear program that would require US military support.
While supporting nuclear diplomacy, he also warned of potential military action in the event of failure. Iran and the United States have so far organized four cycles of talks mediated by Oman since April 12, the highest contact between the two enemies since Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear agreement during his first mandate.
They had confirmed plans to hold another series of discussions at their last meeting on May 11, which Iran described as “difficult but useful”, while an American official said that Washington had been “encouraged”.
Trump said he had presented Iran management with an “olive branch”, adding that it was an offer that would not last forever.
He also threatened to impose “massive maximum pressure”, in particular by leading Iranian oil exports to zero if the talks failed.
Trump later doubled his warning, saying that “something bad will happen” unless the Iranians “move quickly” to an agreement. CNN reported that the senior Western diplomat who had met Trump said that the American president said he would give talks for weeks before turning to a military option if no diplomatic breakthrough was reached.
