Washington, 3 March 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was crucial to "act now" against Iran because the leadership in Tehran was building underground facilities to shield its missile and nuclear programmes from attacks.

Netanyahu said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News that "we had to act now."

"They started building new sites ... underground bunkers that would make their ballistic missile program and their atomic bomb program immune within months," Netanyahu said.

Israel attacked Iran in June in what it said was an effort to cripple Iran's nuclear defence programme. Iran has maintained it is only developing nuclear capabilities for civilian use.

The two countries agreed to a ceasefire after 12 days of fighting following the US bombing of the three nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

"You'd think they'd learn a lesson, but they didn't," Netanyahu continued. "Because they're unreformable, they are totally fanatic about this, about the goal of destroying America."

"If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future," Netanyahu claimed. "And then they could target America, they could blackmail America, they could threaten us and threaten everyone in between."

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Iran on Saturday, sparking a regional escalation as Tehran fired missiles at US bases in several Gulf states.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington's attacks on Iran were a proactive measure for the United States' own protection ahead of an "imminent threat."

Photo: dpa