Israel could be facing a month of significant exchanging of missile-based blows with Iran, a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.

The official added that the round of US-Iranian nuclear negotiations scheduled for Sunday was part of a coordinated US-Israeli deception aimed at lowering Iran’s guard ahead of Friday’s attack.

Another official told the Post on Friday that Israel did not have the capability to completely take out Iran’s nuclear program, and that the goal needed to be causing significant damage to Iran’s missile array and assassination of senior leaders, in a way that would encourage other Iranian actors to act to bring down the regime.

A third official, from the Knesset opposition, opined that the blows to Iran needed to be translated into a diplomatic achievement that would end Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

This was the most important and most difficult stage, the official said, adding that he was not sure whether or not Israel was fully coordinated with the US.

In addition, the Post has learned that Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee members were not updated in advance of the timing of the strike.

This is a developing story.