Iran’s Nuclear Program Was Nearly Irreversible, Says Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar

By Toshiyuki Fukushima / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

21:00 JST, March 20, 2026

JERUSALEM — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs were weeks to a few months away from being irreversible.

In an exclusive interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Saar claimed that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign was launched out of self-defense and implied that it would continue until the Iranian threat is eliminated. “In war, we work with objectives, not with time,” he said.

It was his first time speaking to the Japanese media since the operation against Iran began on Feb. 28.

Saar, 59, is a member of the Security Cabinet, whose few members also include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister. Saar has a say in approving military operations in Iran and Lebanon.

Saar said Wednesday’s attack by Israel on a gas field in southern Iran was in response to Iran’s targeting of Israeli airports and energy facilities.

“We don’t have an intention right now to do it again, but if we want, we can destroy the whole facility with all the consequences,” he added.

Saar said Iran had been about to take its nuclear program “to a very deep underground installation, which we cannot effectively destroy by airstrikes,” so “for us, time was of the essence.”

The objective of the military operation, Saar said, is to make Israel “safe from existential threats from Iran.”

“We are working very systematically on destroying the nuclear program … not only ballistic missiles production, but all the military industry,” he said.

Saar said the operation’s target is the Iranian regime. However, “We cannot change the regime in Iran. Only the Iranian people can do that eventually,” he said, expressing hope that “external help” would weaken the regime to the extent that the Iranian people would rise up.

The international community has criticized the use of force without a resolution of the U.N. Security Council as a violation of international law.

“Article 51 in the U.N. Charter allows self-defense to every country,” Saar argued. He also asserted that a resolution was “not a realistic path” since China and Russia would likely veto it.

In Gaza, U.S. President Donald Trump has launched phase two of his peace plan. Saar said that the heart of this plan is the disarmament of militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, and that Israel is ready to cooperate on the plan.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in nearly 2½ years of fighting in Gaza, with the international community raising concerns of genocide.

“War is a very tough thing, but we … always work in order to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties,” he said.

Regarding relations with Japan, Saar said, “I think Israel has a lot to offer to Japan in various aspects, including in defense cooperation.”

Regarding safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Saar said that he recommends Japan and other U.S. allies think about how they can contribute.

Gideon Saar

Born in 1966 in Tel Aviv, Saar was a prosecutor before being elected to the Knesset in 2003. He has held key positions such as interior minister, justice minister and deputy prime minister and was appointed foreign minister in 2024. He was previously a member of the New Hope Party and now belongs to the right-wing Likud party. He has taken a hard line against the Islamist organization Hamas and the Lebanon-based pro-Iranian group Hezbollah, and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.