Israel Says It Will Meet Its Objectives Amid Iran's Missile Attacks

Iranian missiles struck major Israeli cities on June 16 while Israel's Prime Minister said his country was on its way to eliminate "threats" from nuclear and missile facilities in Iran as civilian casualties mounted on both sides.

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TEL AVIV/DUBAI/WASHINGTON

After four days of conflict between the regional foes, Iran said its Parliament was preparing a Bill to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), adding that Tehran remained opposed to developing weapons of mass destruction.

Passing the Bill could take several weeks but the move risks stoking deeper concerns about Iran's nuclear programme in Western countries which have long suspected Tehran wants to build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

"Government has to enforce Parliament Bills but such a proposal is just being prepared and we will coordinate in the later stages with Parliament," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT.

Israel, which said its military campaign will escalate in the coming days, began bombing Iran on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb and targeting the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

"We are on our way to achieving our two main objectives: eliminating the nuclear threat and eliminating the missile threat," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in comments to soldiers at the Tel Nof airbase.