Netanyahu: We're 'Very, Very Close' to Goals in Iran

The world hasn't seen independent confirmation of the damage to Iran's nuclear sites by American bombers, but comments from Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu seem to suggest it's substantial.

• "We embarked on this operation to eliminate the two concrete threats to our existence: the nuclear threat, the ballistic missile threat," he said Sunday night, reports Reuters. "We are moving step by step towards achieving these goals. We are very, very close to completing them."

• However, Netanyahu did not provide specifics on when the Israeli air campaign against Iran would end. (It continued in force on Monday.) He did say the US had inflicted "very serious damage" to the Fordo nuclear site, Iran's main enrichment facility.
• The New York Times notes that Netanyahu did not make any allusions to the idea of regime change in Tehran. The newspaper adds that the Iranian bombing campaign is widely popular in Israel but that Netanyahu is starting to get pressure to wind things down.
• "We will not continue to operate beyond what is necessary to achieve (our goals)," said Netanyahu. "But we also won't finish up too soon. When the aims are achieved, the operation will be concluded, and the fighting will stop."

(More Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)