IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir made a secret visit to Washington over the weekend. He met with US senior defense officials to present sensitive intelligence, discuss military options against Iran, and seek to influence the diplomatic negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran.
Zamir said he believed a potential US attack was about two weeks to two months away.
This would mean there is no expectation of an immediate attack despite US President Donald Trump’s threats on January 14 and the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group last week.
On the flip side, the June 2025 attacks on Iran came as a surprise when the Islamic Republic and America were, at least publicly, still in the middle of intensive negotiations about a potential nuclear deal.
Also, while there is extensive dialogue between the Israeli and American sides, top Israeli officials, and possibly top US military officials, are still in the dark about Trump’s exact intentions.
The picture may also change in mid-February if protesters return to the streets in large numbers to partake in a traditional Islamic 40th-day anniversary to mark the deaths of many of the protesters in late December and January.
During his visit to the US, Zamir presented recent intelligence that indicated Iran’s progress in rebuilding its military capabilities.
Zamir insist US can let Iran keep its enriched uranium
He was especially focused on this issue and, in recent IDF deliberations, on Iran’s increased conventional ballistic-missile production.
Although Iran has not yet returned to the 2,500-missile level it had reached in June 2025, it is approaching it again after the number was reduced by about half during the 12-day war.
Israel is concerned that the Trump administration may reach a deal with Tehran for freezing uranium enrichment but without fully addressing the ballistic-missile threat.
This has been a concern of Zamir’s since Operation Rising Lion, which wiped out most of Iran’s nuclear program but only about half of the ballistic-missile threat.
In fact, a deal with the ayatollahs might be even more problematic than past arrangements, since Trump might be more aggressive in enforcing limitations on Jerusalem regarding attacking the ballistic-missile program.
Furthermore, while in Washington, Zamir detailed the dangers of any scenario in which the US might allow Iran to retain its estimated 400 kilograms of enriched uranium as well as large volumes of 20%-enriched uranium.
Various think tanks have estimated that this already enriched uranium could potentially be enough for nine to 10 nuclear weapons if weaponized.
There are concerns in Israel that Trump might agree to accepting an Iranian freeze on uranium enrichment while allowing it to keep the already enriched uranium.
In some ways, uranium enrichment would keep the Islamic Republic a significant distance from actually being able to produce even a single nuclear weapon.
On the other hand, with so much enriched uranium, if it happened to succeed in opening a new secret uranium enrichment facility, it might be able to convert that already enriched uranium on a rapid basis with much fewer centrifuges than the nearly 20,000 that Israel and the US may have destroyed in June 20205.
Zamir updated Defense Minister Israel Katz on developments from his US visit during a meeting in Israel on Sunday.