Jerusalem | Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir has said Israel launched the military offensive against Iran's nuclear programme "because the time had come; we'd reached the point of no return".

"We cannot wait for another time to act, we have no choice," Zamir said in remarks published by the IDF.

"History, both distant and recent, has taught us that in the face of ambitions to destroy us, we must not bow our heads, and so we fight to preserve our existence. Freedom is granted to those who are willing to fight for it," he emphasised.

Declaring the launch of Operation Rising Lion aimed at foiling Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Friday that his country has struck at the heart of the Islamic regime's nuclear programme, including its main enrichment facility in Natanz.