Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at US, warns Netanyahu

“Iran can blackmail any US city,” says Israel’s prime minister, warning that Tehran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran is developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads three-quarters of the way to the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week, warning that Tehran will be able to “blackmail” American cities.

On Monday, Netanyahu spoke with conservative pundit Ben Shapiro about Iran’s nuclear aspirations, the war in Gaza, and President Donald Trump’s plan to end the fighting and bring the hostages home to Israel.

Netanyahu said that Iran’s efforts to produce intercontinental ballistic missiles were part of a larger effort to enable Tehran to threaten the United States directly.

“Iran can blackmail any American city,” Netanyahu said. “People don’t believe it. Iran is developing intercontinental missiles with a range of 8,000 kilometers; add another 3,000, and they can get to the East Coast of the US.”

In actuality, New York City is only 9,100 kilometers from Tehran and roughly 8,500 kilometers from Iran’s western border.

Iran’s efforts would “put New York City, Boston, Washington, or Miami under their atomic guns,” Netanyahu continued.

“That’s a really big danger. You don’t want to be under the nuclear gun of these people, who are not necessarily rational and chant ‘death to America.’ I think Israel is doing a great work at keeping that away.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, denied Netanyahu’s claims, tweeting Tuesday that Israel had “deceived the US into attacking the Iranian People.”

However, other Iranian officials have publicly said that Iran is pursuing missile capabilities that would bring the US homeland into range of Iranian projectiles.

“Perhaps our next missile will hit Washington directly,” Iranian MP Amir Hayat-Moqaddam, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in August. “We can target America from the sea.”

“Even now, all European countries are in our range. With our existing missiles, we can strike France, Germany, the UK, and all of Western and Eastern Europe,” he added.

Turning to the prospects for a Gaza truce, Netanyahu said he believes Israel is “close to the end of the war” but quickly added that it is “not there yet.”