LONDON, October 4. /TASS/. Israel may carry out an attack on Iran’s oil industry sites and nuclear-related facilities, Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of the Jewish state, said in an interview with The Guardian.

According to him, "Israel has a compelling need, even an imperative, to respond" to Iran’s recent attack. "So probably there will be even an attempt to hit certain nuclear-related targets," Barak pointed out. He added that "it might be a massive attack, and it could be repeated more than once."

However, in Barak’s words, this possible attack is more likely to be a symbolic one as it would not significantly set back the Iranian nuclear program.

The New Yorker magazine wrote earlier that without US assistance, Israel would not be able to destroy Iran's nuclear infrastructure, "especially the underground nuclear-enrichment site at Fordow, south of Tehran." "The only air force capable of destroying that reactor is that of the United States," the magazine notes, adding that US President Joe Biden "has never ruled out using military force" against Iranian nuclear sites.

Late on October 1, Iran launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel in response to the killing of senior officials from the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Lebanon-based Shia movement Hezbollah and the IRGC. Tehran said that 90% of the missiles hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted. The Israeli General Staff vowed to choose the right moment to surprise Iran with a counterattack, while Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel would see even larger-scale strikes.