Ever since the 12-day war last June between Israel and Iran — and between America and Iran — there has been some confusion as to how much damage was done to ran’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially claimed that it had been entirely destroyed. U.S. President Donald Trump echoed this; he was the first to use the word “obliterated” to describe Iran’s nuclear program. But there were also voices saying it was too soon to tell how much damage had been done to the uranium enrichment facilities, especially those deep underground at Natanz and inside a mountain at Fordow. Some thought that the Iranian program had been set back “by only one or two years.” But with the passage of time, and the reports being delivered to Mossad from its agents inside Iran, the former head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, now says with complete confidence that Iran’s nuclear program was not set back by just a year or two. It was, as Trump had said, “obliterated.” More on Yossi Cohen’s latest report on Iran’s nuclear program can be found here: “Ex-Mossad head Yossi Cohen says ‘Iran cannot enrich any more uranium’ in Fox interview,” Jerusalem Post, November 1, 2025:
Yossi Cohen, the former head of the Mossad, noted that the Iranian nuclear capabilities have been “obliterated” during an interview with Fox News on Friday. He also spoke about Israel’s diplomatic future in the Middle East.
Addressing the Iranian threat, Cohen told Fox that since June, “Iran is in a very different position.”
Cohen asserted that he knows for sure that “Iran cannot enrich any more uranium these days.” He added that he “absolutely accepts” United States President Donald Trump’s declaration that Iranian nuclear facilities were “obliterated” during joint Israeli-US strikes on Iran in June.
Cohen explained that the “great achievement” informed Iranian leadership of two things. First, the fact that Israel has the capacity to pull off an operation like that in collaboration with the US. Secondly, and “even more importantly,” as Cohen said, Israel has the potential to strike again in case Iran “wrongfully decides to go and enrich again.”
“We have destroyed their air defenses, we have destroyed their revolutionary guard sites, we have chased them to their own bedrooms in their own bed inside Tehran and other cities.”
That last is a reference to the large number of senior Iranian leaders, including IRGC commanders, who were killed, along with a half-dozen of Iran’s most senior nuclear scientists, during the 12-day war.
In the interview, Cohen thanked Trump and his administration for their cooperation in the strike and peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, specifically mentioning the US-brokered Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal….
The Gaza deal still has to get beyond Phase 1, and given Hamas’ absolute refusal to disarm, as is required as part of the agreement, the deal can still blow up and the IDF may have to re-enter the half of Gaza from which it has now withdrawn, in order to disarm Hamas in another way.
“I think that the Saudis will be in line” for negotiations, Cohen posited, noting that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) will be visiting Washington, DC, to meet with US officials in the near future….
Cohen is too sanguine about the normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia. Not only Muhammad bin Salman, but other Saudi officials have again reiterated that the Saudis will never agree to that normalization without an Israeli guarantee that a Palestinian state will be created. But after October 7, 80% of Israelis say that they are opposed to a Palestinian state, and that opposition remains no matter what the consequences would be for Saudi-Israeli relations. Although we keep being assured that the normalization of Saudi ties with Israel is highly desirable, no one has supplied any details to support that dreamy belief.
Cohen also mentioned that he has heard murmurings that other Muslim-majority nations may be interested in negotiations, sharing, “I know there are some rumors of Indonesia, and I cherish that of course.”
Indonesia is a much more likely candidate than Saudi Arabia to be the next Muslim state to normalize relations with Israel. It is not an Arab state, and its brand of Islam is less harsh and unyielding than the Wahhabi version of Islam that the Saudis practice. A series of Indonesian leaders — especially Abdurrahman Wahid (1999-2001) and the current president, Subiano — have quietly had established informal relations with Israel, and expressed their hope for friendly relations with the Jewish state. Wahid visited Israel several times before and during his presidency, and advocated for the Muslim world to recognize Israel’s right to exist, arguing that there was no reason for Indonesia to be against Israel as a nation that respects God and religion. Suharto, who was president from the late 1960s to the 1990s, permitted an unofficial military and intelligence cooperation with Israel, and even met with then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Jakarta in 1993. The current Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, has like the Saudi Muhammad bin Salman, expressed a willingness to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, but only on the condition that Israel first recognizes an independent Palestinian state based on a two-state solution. Perhaps, under American economic pressure, Indonesia can be persuaded to drop that demand and instead to seek better ties with Israel, which has much to offer Indonesia in the security and military spheres.
“Expect to see more peace treaties in the coming future,” Cohen advised. “I think that from now on, we will see a better Middle East.”
Is his hopefulness justified? Certainly Hamas has been weakened sufficiently, with 26,000 combatants killed, to allow the powerful Gazan clans to challenge its rule. Hezbollah has had its leadership decimated, first by the killing of the charismatic Hassan Nasrallah, and then by the killing of his successor Hashem Safieddine. Almost 5,000 Hezbollah fighters, including all of the terror group’s senior commanders, have also been killed. In addition, nearly 4,000 Hezbollah operatives were severely wounded, and rendered unfit for combat, in Mossad’s “exploding pagers” operation. Meanwhile, in October 2023, Hezbollah had 150,000 missiles and rockets in its arsenal. But the IDF has been whittling down that number with airstrikes, and it is now estimated that 80% of that prewar arsenal has been destroyed. And because Syria is now run by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has been the sworn enemy of Iran for its support of Bashar Assad, no Iranian weapons can any longer be sent from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Finally, the Houthis in Yemen, the last proxy of Iran in the Middle East, has been the object of ferocious attacks by the Israeli Air Force that have destroyed both most of the airport in Sanaa and the port at Hodeidah, making it impossible for Iran to deliver weapons to the rifle-toting qat-chewing Houthi tribesmen.
Yossi Cohen is much too sanguine about the prospects for Saudi normalization of ties with Israel. But his certainty, that the Israeli and American attacks on Iran have not just set back its nuclear program but obliterated it, so that Iran will not be able for a very long time to restart it, is good news. And in that very long time, the Islamic Republic itself, its economy crumbling from mismanagement, misallocation of resources, and a historic drought, may come tumbling down.
Taffy says
It was pretty obvious that nothing was left of Fordo and Nathan’s after looking at the entrance wounds to the earth from the GBU-57s that the IS dropped. Those were. Lean entrance wounds devoid of blowback which would occur if the bombs exploded before they entered the cavity in the mountain n containing Iran’s enrichment facilities. That means that each GBU-57 with its almost 4600 lbs. of ultra high explosive e detonated inside the facility. One bomb would have destroyed everything. But the multiple penetrations inside each Iranian facility was icing on the cake.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country, but it does not have the oil wealth that Saudi Arabia does. Nonetheless, any diplomatic relations with Indonesia would be welcome and hopefully a slingshot to eventually get SaidI Arabia on board. But. I still don’t trust those saudis to do the right thing. Israel hatred is still on their DNA.
OLD GUY says
I wouldn’t trust Saudi Arabia or Qatar, they will always fall back to Islamic Jihad.
gravenimage says
Taffy, I don’t think you can trust any pious Muslims. Why would you suppose you can?
Cynthia says
Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries want wealth and weapons bestowed by the US. They will make temporary agreements but will build their strength to eventually attack the west.
It is naive to believe that jihad of the Koran will ever be abandoned.
OLD GUY says
AMEN!
gravenimage says
+1
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I think that’s a fair assessment. Combine the Fordow bombings w/ the assassination of most of their technical experts, and that’s seriously been set back. It’s not easy to come up w/ new nuclear scientists: this ain’t something as straightforward as studying in a madrassa
TONY says
Terrorism, violence, and discrimination against Non-Muslims NEVER CEASES under Islam and its Muslims as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran(Quran 8:39; 9:5, 29, 111; 98:6-7, etc.). Allah’s hellacious ideology in Qur’an 8:39 commands Muslims to fight Non-Muslims until Non-Muslims surrender to Muslim rule and become Muslims when Allah says, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…”
Allah’s Islam, a CRIMINAL-TERRORIST-GANG ENTERPRISE and a MURDEROUS-DEMONIC CULT OF BELIEVERS, Terrorist Muslim Soldiers for demonic Allah, continually fund, promote, and practice ideological subversion, propaganda, bigotry, discrimination, deceit, industrial-scale slavery, human trafficking, intimidation, supremacy, segregation, hatred, incitement to violence, criminality, genocide, victimhood, censorship, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law, Sharia, and in Islam’s Qur’an(Qur’an 5:14,35; 8:60; 9:41, 88, etc.).
Allah stirs hatred against Christians until the resurrection day when Qur’an 5:14 instructs, “And some of those who say, ‘Surely we are Nasara (Christians),’ we took their covenant. So they have forgotten a part of what they were reminded of, so we have stirred up ENMITY and HATRED among them until the resurrection day. And Allah will inform them of what they were doing.” See also Qur’an 60:4.
As taught by Allah, Muslims are supremacist terrorists for Allah with their MONEY and their LIVES. Allah in Qur’an 49:15 states, “Surely the believers[Muslims] are only those who believed in Allah and his messenger. They do not doubt, and they performed jihad with their MONEY and their LIVES for the sake of Allah. Those are the truthful.” Allah in Qur’an 4:101 says, “…Surely the infidels(Non-Muslims) were your clear enemies.”
ALLAH’S MUSLIMS are a greater TERROR than diabolical Allah. Allah in Qur’an 59:13 says, “You[Muslims] are a greater terror in their chests than Allah. This is because they[Jews & Christians] are people who do not understand.” Islam must be banned as illegal, and we have the legal right to defend ourselves from Muslim violence. As a result, Non-Muslims are marked for death by Islam and its Muslims. Allah in Qur’an 9:29 commands, “Engage in war with those who do not believe in Allah nor in the last day. Nor forbid what Allah and his messenger forbid, nor believe in the religion of the truth among those who have given the book until they pay the jizyah out of hand and they are subdued.”
Again, Islam is a totalitarian and supremacist system of lies and deceit because Allah, the best deceiver, is the actual source of Muslim deceit. Allah in Qur’an 3:54 says, “And they deceived, and Allah deceived. And Allah is the best deceiver.” Allah in Qur’an 8:30 says, “…And Allah is the best deceiver.” Allah in Qur’an 13:42 says, “And indeed, those before them deceived, so to Allah all the deception…”
gravenimage says
Former Mossad Head Confirms Iran’s Nuclear Program ‘Obliterated’
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I hope Yossi Cohen is right!