Netanyahu Says War on Iran “Not Over” as Long as Iran Has Uranium

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is “not over” because Iran still has nuclear material that “has to be taken out” of the country.

In a “60 Minutes” interview broadcast by CBS News on Sunday evening, Netanyahu said that the war on Iran has not ended because Iran still has enriched uranium that must be “taken out,” as well as enrichment sites that “have to be dismantled.” When probed further, Netanyahu repeated that Iran’s uranium must be taken out of the country with physical force, implying his openness to a ground invasion. Netanyahu also claimed that Trump was open to the possibility of a ground invasion.

Israel is one of nine countries — and the only country in the Middle East — to have nuclear weapons. It is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and move toward disarmament. Israel faces little international pressure for transparency on its arsenal of nuclear weapons, revealing a stark double standard in the treatment of Iran.

Trump, for his part, also addressed the U.S.’s plans for Iran’s uranium in an interview that aired the same day, but did not suggest that a ground invasion was on the table. “We’ll get that at some point,” he said, referring to Iran’s uranium.

Since its start, Israel and the U.S. have had different objectives for their war on Iran, with Israel aiming for a “collapse” of Iran and an “overthrow” of the Iranian government, while Trump hopes for a re-shuffle of Iranian leadership that will acquiesce to Washington’s demands. While Netanyahu encourages a ground invasion, it is unlikely that Trump will be open to that step.

In the “60 Minutes” interview, however, Netanyahu stressed the U.S. and Israel’s partnership, saying that Iran has “been hit very hard by our joint military efforts” and emphasizing the supposed threat Iran holds over both the U.S. and Israel.

Netanyahu also claimed to want an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, saying that the two countries should have a military partnership instead, with the U.S. sharing its weapons with Israel. “Israel is your best ally,” he said. “It’s the only one that really provides you with gems of intelligence, shares our incredible technology, appreciates every penny that you gave us, deeply appreciates it.”

Netanyahu also spoke of a “propaganda war” against Israel, claiming that social media has spread false accusations of Israel indiscriminately attacking civilians, and is thus responsible for young Americans abandoning Israel.

“We’re the most discriminating military on the planet in history,” Netanyahu asserted, citing the 2024 pager attacks on Lebanon as an example. Israel “knocked them out with surgical precision, no collateral damage, with the beepers,” he claimed. Contrary to Netanyahu’s claims, legal experts have noted that the attacks, which killed dozens and injured thousands, were indeed indiscriminate, violated international law, and should be investigated as war crimes.

The interview on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” took a friendly, almost ingratiating tone at times – a mark of the shift at CBS since the network installed far right Bari Weiss as chief editor last fall. Weiss has transformed CBS into a news outlet favorable to Trump and other right-wing figures, and received backlash earlier this year after abruptly canceling a “60 Minutes” segment on El Salvador’s inhumane CECOT prison, where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of immigrants.