| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:28 am Post subject: Israel appears to rehearse Iran attack: report |
| Israel appears to rehearse Iran attack: report (Reuters)
29 minutes ago (June 19th, 2008)
U.S. officials say Israel carried out a large military exercise this month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Citing unidentified American officials, the newspaper said more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters took part in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June.
It said the exercise appeared to be an effort to focus on long-range strikes and illustrates the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.
The newspaper said Israeli officials would not discuss the exercise.
A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel," according to the Times.
A Pentagon official who the Times said was briefed on the exercise, said one goal was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and other details of a possible strike against Iran's nuclear installations and long-range conventional missiles.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a second goal was to send a clear message that Israel was prepared to act militarily if other efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium fail.
"They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," the Pentagon official said, according to the Times. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."
Several U.S. officials told the newspaper they did not believe Israel had decided to attack Iran or think such a strike was imminent.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran for defying council demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment program, which could be used to make fuel for power plants or atomic weapons.
Iran has refused to buckle to the sanctions and has spurned previous offers of economic benefits to suspend its uranium enrichment, which it says is to produce fuel for electrical power plants rather than for nuclear weapons.
Iran said Thursday it was ready to negotiate over a new package of economic incentives put forward by major powers seeking to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear work.
(Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Anthony Boadle)
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http://NEOCONZIONISTTHREAT.BLOGSPOT.COM | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:02 am Post subject: |
| And it looks like Israel is threatening its neighbors yet again:
http://www.nytimes.com/
June 20, 2008
U.S. Says Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITTWASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program.
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.
The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.
Israeli officials declined to discuss the details of the exercise. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country’s air force “regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel.”
But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. A senior Pentagon official who has been briefed on the exercise, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political delicacy of the matter, said the exercise appeared to serve multiple purposes.
One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles.
A second, the official said, was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter.
“They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know,” the Pentagon official said. “There’s a lot of signaling going on at different levels.”
Several American officials said they did not believe that the Israeli government had concluded that it must attack Iran and did not think that such a strike was imminent.
Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister who is now a deputy prime minister, warned in a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israel might have no choice but to attack. “If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack,” Mr. Mofaz said in the interview published on June 6, the day after the unpublicized exercise ended. “Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable.”
But Mr. Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power.
Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mr. Mofaz’s statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed.
Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran.
“They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard,” a Bush administration official said of the Iranians.
Any Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities would confront a number of challenges. Many American experts say they believe that such an attack could delay but not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Much of the program’s infrastructure is buried under earth and concrete and installed in long tunnels or hallways, making precise targeting difficult. There is also concern that not all of the facilities have been detected. To inflict maximum damage, multiple attacks might be necessary, which many analysts say is beyond Israel’s ability at this time.
But waiting also entails risks for the Israelis. Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed fears that Iran will soon master the technology it needs to produce substantial quantities of highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran is also taking steps to better defend its nuclear facilities. Two sets of advance Russian-made radar systems were recently delivered to Iran. The radar will enhance Iran’s ability to detect planes flying at low altitude.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said in February that Iran was close to acquiring Russian-produced SA-20 surface-to-air missiles. American military officials said that the deployment of such systems would hamper Israel’s attack planning, putting pressure on Israel to act before the missiles are fielded.
For both the United States and Israel, Iran’s nuclear program has been a persistent worry. A National Intelligence Estimate that was issued in December by American intelligence agencies asserted that Iran had suspended work on weapons design in late 2003. The report stated that it was unclear if that work had resumed. It also noted that Iran’s work on uranium enrichment and on missiles, two steps that Iran would need to take to field a nuclear weapon, had continued.
In late May, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran’s suspected work on nuclear matters was a “matter of serious concern” and that the Iranians owed the agency “substantial explanations.”
Over the past three decades, Israel has carried out two unilateral attacks against suspected nuclear sites in the Middle East. In 1981, Israeli jets conducted a raid against Iraq’s nuclear plant at Osirak after concluding that it was part of Saddam Hussein’s program to develop nuclear weapons. In September, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that American officials said housed a nuclear reactor built with the aid of North Korea.
The United States protested the Israeli strike against Iraq in 1981, but its comments in recent months have amounted to an implicit endorsement of the Israeli strike in Syria.
Pentagon officials said that Israel’s air forces usually conducted a major early summer training exercise, often flying over the Mediterranean or training ranges in Turkey where they practice bombing runs and aerial refueling. But the exercise this month involved a larger number of aircraft than had been previously observed, and included a lengthy combat rescue mission.
Much of the planning appears to reflect a commitment by Israel’s military leaders to ensure that its armed forces are adequately equipped and trained, an imperative driven home by the difficulties the Israeli military encountered in its Lebanon operation against Hezbollah.
“They rehearse it, rehearse it and rehearse it, so if they actually have to do it, they’re ready,” the Pentagon official said. “They’re not taking any options off the table.”
Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:27 am Post subject: |
| http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=60697§ionid=351020104
US: Israel rehearsing for Iran war
Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:12:01
Israeli military exercise in the Negev desert, June 5, 2007
US officials claim that a military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month was a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran.
American officials believe that the Israeli military exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Israel carried out a military maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the exercise, American officials said.
A senior Pentagon official, who has been briefed on the exercise, said the regime aimed to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Tel Aviv was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from 'producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter'.
"They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know", the Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity, adding that "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."
The US and Israel accuse Iran of developing weapons of mass destruction.
Tehran dismisses the allegation as baseless and asserts that as a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA latest report on Iran's nuclear program has also verified the non-diversion of the country's declared nuclear material.
Israel, however has repeatedly threatened The Islamic Republic with a military attack over its nuclear program.
Israeli Deputy prime minister, Shaul Mofaz said in an interview published on June 6 by the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that "Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable."
However, Israeli authorities later said that Mofaz's statement does not represent Tel Aviv's official policy.
The Islamic republic says any act of aggression against the nation will be met with a 'crushing response'.
"We do not brag like certain regimes, but if we are confronted we will prove our military prowess by delivering the enemy a crushing response,” said the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi in response to recent Israeli threats against Tehran.
SB/DT
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What World War III Might Look Like:
http://antiwar.com/orig/giraldi.php?articleid=11666
Hedges: It's Insane to Attack Iran, Devastating Consequences:
See video:
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/05/hedges-its-insane-to-attack-iran.html
Bob Barr: Attacking Iran Highly Irresponsible & Detrimental
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/05/bob-barr-attacking-iran-highly.html
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Last edited by Alpha on Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:13 am; edited 1 time in total | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject: |
| AP
Oil rebounds on word Israel practiced Iran attack
Friday June 20, 9:23 am ET
By John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Oil prices bounce back after Pentagon says Israeli exercises were demonstration to Iran
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures rebounded Friday as Pentagon officials said a large scale Israeli military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean early this month was intended in part as a demonstration of Jerusalem's ability to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
At the pump, gas prices rose slightly.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $3.08 to $135.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, recovering much of the ground lost Thursday after China announced it was raising fuel prices.
While Thursday's news from China reduced investor concerns about surging global demand for oil and fuel, Friday's news from Iran injected fresh supply worries into the market.
Adding to the news of the military exercises in the Middle East, Nigerian oil workers have decided to strike at a Chevron Corp. facility beginning Monday, a move that could further cut oil supplies from Africa's largest producer.
The dollar also fell against the euro. Many investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback weakens. A falling dollar makes oil less expensive to investors overseas.
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices inched 0.2 cent higher to a national average of $4.075 a gallon Friday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices have drifted lower this week since hitting a record $4.08 a gallon on Monday.
Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek, in Washington, contributed to this report. | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: |
| Israel shows abilities for Iran strike (Associated Press)
By PAULINE JELINEK
21 minutes ago
A large Israeli military exercise this month may have been aimed at showing Jerusalem's abilities to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
In a substantial show of force, Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean early this month, Pentagon officials said Friday.
Israel's military refused to confirm or deny that the maneuvers were practice for a strike in Iran.
Russia's foreign minister Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons with a program that Tehran says is for generating power.
U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the sensitive matter for the record.
"They have been conducting some large-scale exercises — they live in a tough neighborhood," one U.S. official said, though he offered no other recent examples.
The big exercise the first week of June was impossible to miss and may have been meant as a show of force as well as for practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission.
The New York Times quoted U.S. officials Friday saying more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged the maneuver, flying more than 900 miles, roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, and that the exercise included refueling tankers and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.
"It was noticed that a significant exercise took place — dozens and dozens of aircraft participated," one of the officials said. "We watch globally everyday, and this was noted."
The second U.S. defense official said the maneuver could be taken as a demonstration to Iran and the international community that Israel is serious about the need to challenge Iran's nuclear program — and could be prepared to do so militarily. "That's one of the assessments you could make out of the exercise," the official said.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency.
Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.
"I hope the actual actions would be based on international law," Lavrov said. "And international law clearly protects Iran's and anyone else's territorial integrity." | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:34 pm Post subject: |
| Iran warns of 'strong blow' if Israel attacks (Associated Press)
by Aresu Eqbali2 hours, 52 minutes ago
Tehran Friday warned its arch-enemy Israel of a "strong blow" if it takes forceful measures, after the US media reported military exercises by the Jewish state were a possible practice for a strike against Iran.
"If enemies especially Israelis and their supporters in the United States would want to use a language of force, they should rest assured that they will receive a strong blow in the mouth," senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said in his Friday prayers sermon.
Khatami, whose speech was broadcast live on state radio, stressed that the Iranian nation's mentality was "to fight foreigners."
"Given this mentality, if you make a hostile look at the Islamic Iran, you will witness such a united roar by our nation that it will definitely make you regret any vicious move forever," the conservative cleric added.
A Friday report by the New York Times cited US officials as saying that a major military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month seemed to be a practice for any potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
A Pentagon official briefed on the exercise said a goal of the practice was to send a message that the Jewish state was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts failed to halt Tehran's production of bomb-grade uranium.
Last month the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's atomic watchdog, expressed "serious concern" that Iran is still hiding information about alleged studies into making nuclear warheads and defying UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment.
World powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- offered Tehran a new package of technological and economic incentives on Saturday in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment activities.
The West fears Iran could use uranium enrichment to make an atomic bomb although Tehran insists it wants only to generate nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Iran has given no signal that it would comply with the key demand.
"The nuclear issue has ended from our point of view," said Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday.
"Recently they have started a new game -- by testing us -- but this will result in no achievement for them except humiliation," he said without pointing to the offer.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who presented the new proposal to the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called on Iran for a quick response.
Mottaki however said on Thursday that the offer was under consideration and the response will be given "at an appropriate time."
"Solana came with some of the EU representatives and brought the package. We have two points here," Khatami said in his Friday prayers sermon.
"We have been pro negotiation since the beginning, but a logical one that is after a solution.
"Not a type of negotiation that aims for mischievous actions," he said. | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:21 am Post subject: |
| http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/is-israel-really-preparin_b_108314.html
Is Israel really preparing to attack Iran? The New York Times today describes a June Israeli military exercise U.S. officials say "appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities." A "senior Pentagon official" said a goal of the exercise "was to send a clear message to the United States" and Europe that Israel was prepared to act militarily if U.S. pressure to stop Iran from enriching uranium continued to fail.
If so, retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner didn't get the message. "The signal I received is that Israel does NOT have the capability to effectively attack Iran's nuclear facilities," Col. Gardiner says.
Gardiner says a 2006 MIT paper by Whitney Raas and Austin Long, "Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities," is a good representation of how Israeli military planners think about targeting.
According to Raas and Long, in a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities Israel would be interested in three targets - the enrichment facility at Natanz, the conversion facility at Esfahan and the heavy water plant at Arak. They say Israel would want to attack these three facilities with a combined total of 36 aircraft.
"Getting 36 bombing aircraft into the targets connects well with the New York Times description of the early June exercise of 100 aircraft," Gardiner says. "Three strike packages of F-15I and F-16I aircraft, escorted by F-15A/C's with other supporting aircraft would be around 100 aircraft."
"An Israeli strike would not be much of a strike," Gardiner says. Israel would hit approximately 100 aim points, single weapons on a single part of the target. "I would call the Israeli strike 'disruptive' rather than 'destructive,'" he says. It has taken three to five years to build the three facilities. "You would have to destroy most of the facilities to come close to setting back the program three to five years."
The US probably thinks in terms of about 10 times more aim points for a similar strike, Gardiner notes.
"President Bush likes beehive analogies," Gardiner points out. " An Israel-only strike would stir up the bees and leave the hives with only limited damage."
If Gardiner's analysis is correct, then Michael Gordon's New York Times article is deceptive, perhaps deliberately so. It's part of a campaign of pressure on Congress and European governments - likely orchestrated with the Cheney faction of the Bush Administration - to forego real negotiations with Iran, and to push towards U.S. military escalation. If we don't act, the Israelis will, the argument will be - neglecting the fact that no Israeli action is possible without a green light from Washington.
Next week, Congress may consider on its suspension calendar a resolution promoted by AIPAC that effectively endorses a naval blockade against Iran - an act of war. If you don't think such a resolution should be rushed through Congress, you can say so here.
Do it..and do it now..
http://capwiz.com/justforeignpolicy/issues/alert/?alertid=11518951 | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:34 am Post subject: Israel is the wild card for US on Iran |
| Is Israel Poised To Attack Iran?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/20/eveningnews/main4199459.shtml
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http://nytimes.com
June 21, 2008
News Analysis
Bush May End Term With Iran Issue Unsettled
By HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — For more than five years now, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have made clear that they did not want to leave office with Iran any closer to possessing nuclear weapons than when they took office.
“The nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons,” Mr. Bush said in February 2006. The United States is prepared to use its naval power “to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region,” Mr. Cheney said in 2007 from a Navy carrier in the Persian Gulf.
But with seven months left in this administration, Iran appears ascendant, its political and economic influence growing, its historic foes in Iraq and Afghanistan weakened, and its nuclear program continuing to move forward. So the question now is: Are Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney resigned to leaving Iran more powerful than they found it when they came to office?
The evidence is mixed. For all the talk to the contrary, Bush administration officials appear to have concluded that diplomatic efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions will not yield any breakthroughs this year.
Despite a recent flurry of efforts to tighten sanctions on Iran, top officials on both sides of the Atlantic, in recent interviews, had no expectations that Iran’s rulers would make any concessions, particularly on the critical issue of suspending the enrichment of uranium, while Mr. Bush remained in office.
On the military front, the picture is fuzzier. Two senior administration officials said that barring a move by Israel, which one characterized as “the wild card” on the Iranian issue, this administration would not be likely to pursue military strikes against Iranian nuclear targets.
Mr. Bush himself seemed to signal as much at the start of his European tour last week in Slovenia, when he said of Iran that he expected to “leave behind a multilateral framework to work on this issue,” a statement that seemed to suggest that military action against Iran may no longer be on the table.
But there remains the possibility that Israel could force the hand of the Bush administration, foreign policy analysts and diplomats said. Israel carried out a three-day military exercise this month that American intelligence officials say appeared to have been a rehearsal for a potential strike on nuclear targets in Iran.
Israeli officials have tried to put pressure in recent months on the Bush administration to consider such a strike if Iran did not abandon its nuclear program, and the exercise may have been intended as a new signal that Israel might be willing to act alone if the United States did not.
“Israel prefers this threat be dealt with peacefully, by dramatically increasing sanctions and maintaining a credible resolve to keep all options on the table,” said Sallai Meridor, the Israeli ambassador to the United States. “But time is running out.”
Iran, he said, “should understand that under no circumstances will the world allow it to obtain a nuclear capability.”
Mohamad ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told Al Arabiya television that he would quit his job in the event of a military strike on Iran.
“It would turn the region into a fireball,” he said in an interview broadcast Friday, according to Reuters.
Israeli officials have expressed fear to the Bush administration that a new administration would take months, if not years, to decide on its approach to Iran. The consensus in the United States and Europe is that Iran is still at least two years away from a nuclear weapon. Israeli officials say they believe the threshold is closer to a year.
An Israeli military strike on Iran would almost certainly require American help. For one thing, Pentagon officials say, it would take hundreds of sorties to take out a big swath of Iranian air defense. For another, the United States controls much of the airspace around Iran. Beyond that, Iran would hold the United States accountable for an Israeli strike, and could retaliate against American troops in Iraq.
In Moscow on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov urged dialogue rather than confrontation with Iran and said that the United States and Israel had not offered any proof that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program. “So far we have not seen any,” Mr. Lavrov said, according to Interfax news agency.
A trip to Tehran last weekend by European diplomats with a new package of incentives was largely for Iranian public consumption, and to appease Russia and China by appearing to be still trying to woo Iran, European and American diplomats said.
But European diplomats have been loath to acknowledge publicly that diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear development is in a holding pattern for the next eight months because they fear that Iran will only use that time to make progress on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes.
“One should not talk about keeping the status quo because that would be dangerous,” one European diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity under diplomatic rules. “We can’t say the clock has stopped and we will begin work again after Jan. 1; that is not a good recipe for success.”
Administration efforts to convey a sense of urgency about stopping Iran’s nuclear program were dealt a blow late last year with the release of a National Intelligence Estimate reporting that Iran had stopped work on a nuclear weapons program in 2003. In recent months, Bush administration officials have tried to walk back from that report, repeating often that Iran’s nuclear program remains a threat.
Many foreign policy experts are now looking to the next administration for a possible new approach to the standoff with Iran. “The Europeans all understand that the carrots-and-sticks approach is not working, and the entire Iran diplomatic policy has to be rethought,” said Vali R. Nasr, an Iran expert at Tufts University. Until a new administration takes over, he said, “we’re stuck in a process where the ball is kicked to the bureaucrats.”
Sophia Kishkovsky contributed reporting from Moscow.
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'Ball of fire' if Iran attacked: IAEA chief
2 hours, 18 minutes ago
afp.com
The UN atomic watchdog chief on Saturday warned that an attack on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme would turn the region into a fireball, as Tehran rejected an Israeli strike as "impossible."
Mohamed ElBaradei also warned that he would not be able to continue in his role as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general should the Islamic republic be attacked.
"A military strike (against Iran) would in my opinion be worse than anything else... It would transform the Middle East region into a ball of fire," ElBaradei said in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.
A report by the New York Times on Friday cited US officials as saying that a major military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month seemed to be a practice for any potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
In Athens, an official with the Greek air force's central command confirmed the substance of the US media report, stating that it had taken part in "joint training exercises" with Israel off the Mediterranean island of Crete.
The manoeuvres, code-named "Glorious Spartan 08," took place on May 28 and June 12, and consisted of aerial exercises and knowledge exchange, said the Greek source, who requested anonymity.
The goal was for more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets to prepare for long-range strikes and demonstrate Israel's serious concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Times reported.
But ElBaradei said on Saturday that any attack would simply harden Iran's position in its row with the West over its nuclear programme.
"A military strike would spark the launch of an emergency programme to make atomic weapons, with the support of all Iranians, including those living abroad," he said.
He did not believe that there was an "imminent risk" of proliferation given the current status of Iran's nuclear programme and made it clear he would "not have a place" as IAEA head in the event of a military strike against Iran.
The West fears the Islamic republic could use uranium enrichment to make an atomic bomb although Tehran insists it only wants nuclear technology for peaceful energy purposes.
ElBaradei's comments come as Iran stressed on Saturday it will not negotiate with world powers over its nuclear programme if it is required to suspend its enrichment activities.
"Suspending uranium enrichment has no logic behind it and it is not acceptable and the continuation of negotiation will not be based on suspension," Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
He responded to talk of a military strike by saying, "Such impudence and audacity to have an aggression against our national interest and integrity is an impossible action."
In Jerusalem, the Israeli parliament foreign affairs and defence commission chairman Tsahi Hanegbi said Saturday that Western diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear programme had "failed".
"Next year and the year after that will be crucial. The world must must decide if it gives more time to diplomatic efforts, which currently do not seem very promising," he told Israeli public radio.
"Western measures against Iran's nuclear programme have failed."
On June 6 an Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Shaul Mofaz, warned that Iran would face attack if it pursues what he said was its nuclear weapons programme.
A week ago, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented a new offer to Mottaki on ending the six-year standoff over Iran's nuclear drive, offering economic and trade incentives. Iran is still considering the plan.
It was made on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
Additional at the following URL:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/wake-up-america-your-government-is-hijacked-by-zionism/2008/06/20/israel-appears-to-rehearse-iran-attack-report.php | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
