Israeli attack hit 'component' in Iran nuclear program, Netanyahu says

Prime MinisterBenjaminNetanyahusaid on Monday that Israel'sair attackon Iran last monthhit an element of Tehran's nuclear program while degradingitsdefenceand missile production capabilities.

"It's not a secret,"Netanyahusaid in a speech in parliament. "There is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack."

However,Netanyahuadded that Iran's path to a nuclear weapon had not been blocked.

On Oct. 26,Israeli fighter jets carried out three waves ofattackson Iranian military targets, a few weeks after Iran had fired abarrageof about 200 ballistic missiles against Israel.

This followed a previous exchange ofdirect attacksin April.

Netanyahu, in his speech, offered a few more details on what Israel had targeted.

Israel's April strike, he said, was narrower, taking out one of four Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defence batteries around Tehran, the Iranian capital.

He said that in October, Israel destroyed the remaining three batteries and caused serious damage to Iran's ballistic missile production capabilities and its ability to produce solid fuel, which is used in long-range ballistic missiles.

Israel trying to dismantle Hezbollah

Israelhas dealt the Iran-backed Hezbollah big blows since launching an offensive against the group, killing its leader SayyedHassan Nasrallahand pounding Lebanon with airstrikes. Hezbollah has kept up rocket fire into northernIsrael, where sirens sounded again on Monday.

Israellaunched its September offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Its declared goal is to dismantle Hezbollah's capabilities to secure the return of tens of thousands ofIsraelis who evacuated the north due to rockets fired by Hezbollah in solidarity with its ally Hamas as theGaza warbegan more than a year ago.

Israel's campaign has killed at least 3,481 people in Lebanon since hostilities began, most since late September, Lebanese authorities say, and uprooted more than a million people.

The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Hezbollah strikes have killed at least 43 civilians in northernIsraeland theIsraeli-occupied Golan Heights, while 73 soldiers have been killed in strikes in northernIsraeland the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according toIsraeli figures.