The strike, which U.S. intelligence and independent analyses dispute, has sparked global debate over its true aims: stemming nuclear proliferation or dismantling Iran's regional influence. Netanyahu's rhetoric echoes decades of warnings about an Iranian nuclear threat, culminating in an attack that opponents argue risks escalation without verifiable justification.

U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard recently affirmed: "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon." This official assessment, coupled with Iran's compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has cast doubt over Israel's urgent rationale. Meanwhile, critics note Netanyahu's long-standing strategy to dismantle Iran's "Axis of Resistance," a network sustaining Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups opposing Israeli control in the region.

Netanyahu's pretext: Regime change over nukes?

For four decades, Netanyahu has hyped an Iranian nuclear "existential threat," even as Middle East security experts question this framing. Analysts like Robert Inlakesh argue the strike is less about weapons than regime change, citing Netanyahu's post-attack call for Iranians to overthrow their government. "Israel's true target is not merely nuclear disarmament but destabilizing Tehran's alliances with regional adversaries," Inlakesh said.

Military experts confirm Israel lacks the capacity to disable Iran's deeply buried, mountain-based nuclear facilities. "This isn't a precision strike," says Andrew Feinstein, arms industry analyst. "Israel's air force can't achieve what even the U.S. failed to do in Syria." Instead, Feinstein and others suggest the attack aims to fracture Iran's regional influence, weaken its ballistic missile program and ignite internal dissent—objectives far beyond "deterrence."

U.S. backing and intelligence contradictions

The U.S. faces charges of complicity as Israel bombs facilities under international oversight. Trump's post-WWII-era sanctions and abandonment of the 2015 Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) have stoked distrust. Former President Barack Obama's Iran envoy, Wendy Sherman, called Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign "a disaster," accelerating Tehran's uranium stockpiles while isolating the U.S. diplomatically.

Gabbard's testimony—to the Senate Intelligence Committee that "Khamenei suspended nuclear weapons work in 2003"—spotlights contradictions. Despite Netanyahu's insistence, the IAEA's August 2018 report found Iran in full compliance with the JCPOA. "These actions suggest the Netanyahu administration is either misinformed or intentionally misleading U.S. allies," argues Columbia University's Flynt Leverett.