Nuclear Minister Dan Meridor denied that the test was a prelude to an attack on Iran, saying “the two things are separate.” It seems unlikely to be a coincidence, however, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak touted it as a “technological achievement” for Israel’s military.
Israeli officials have been talking up the prospect of attacking Iran in the media for the past several days, but officials expressed a preference for the nation to convince the US to launch the attack instead.