High costs could prevent Israel from prolonging conflict with Iran

According to TASS on June 20, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that the conflict with Iran is costing Israel hundreds of millions of dollars every day. This could significantly limit Israel's ability to continue military operations.

According to the WSJ, up to $200 million is spent every day on Israel's air defense. The ammunition and aircraft used to attack and repel missiles also significantly increase the cost of war.

The rising costs could prompt Israel to end the conflict, as restoring damaged buildings alone could cost at least $400 million, the WSJ said.

Israel launched a military operation against Iran on the night of June 13. Less than a day later, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched a retaliatory attack. In the following days, the two countries continued to exchange “tit-for-tat” attacks on each other. Both sides reported casualties and damage from these attacks, and admitted to hitting several targets.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi in an interview with the newspaper La Nacion believes that Iran was not developing a nuclear bomb when Israel began its attacks.

“The answer at this point is ‘no’. But there are many factors that lead to that,” Grossi said, when asked if Iran was building a nuclear bomb.

Mr Grossi also warned against speculating about the time it would take Iran to build a nuclear bomb. "We have to be very careful about the issues of dating. We all remember the tragic statement that Iraq needed 45 minutes to use its weapons...", the head of the IAEA added.