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Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran
By
Uzi Mahnaimi, New York and Sarah Baxter, Washington
11/07/07 "The
Times" -- - - ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to
destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical
nuclear weapons.
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an
Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”,
according to several Israeli military sources.
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945,
when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent
to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.
Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open
“tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately
be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to
reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.
“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission,
one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,”
said one of the sources.
The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been
prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s
assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough
enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.
Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no
longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended
enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least
70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped
bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was
ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior
sources said.
Israeli and American officials have met several times to
consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure
of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt
enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world
opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.
Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike
could range from disruption of oil supplies to the West to
terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world.
Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which
are believed to be involved in Iran’s nuclear programme:
Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for
uranium enrichment
A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a
statement by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of
gas for the enrichment process have been stored in tunnels
A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce
enough plutonium for a bomb
Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would
delay Iran’s nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them
from having to live in fear of a “second Holocaust”.
The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never
allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that “Israel must be wiped off
the map”.
Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described
military action against Iran as a “last resort”, leading Israeli
officials to conclude that it will be left to them to strike.
Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train
for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets. Three
possible routes have been mapped out, including one over Turkey.
Air force squadrons based at Hatzerim in the Negev desert and
Tel Nof, south of Tel Aviv, have trained to use Israel’s
tactical nuclear weapons on the mission. The preparations have
been overseen by Major General Eliezer Shkedi, commander of the
Israeli air force.
Sources close to the Pentagon said the United States was highly
unlikely to give approval for tactical nuclear weapons to be
used. One source said Israel would have to seek approval “after
the event”, as it did when it crippled Iraq’s nuclear reactor at
Osirak with airstrikes in 1981.
Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the
bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium
compounds would be released.
The Israelis believe that Iran’s retaliation would be
constrained by fear of a second strike if it were to launch its
Shehab-3 ballistic missiles at Israel.
However, American experts warned of repercussions, including
widespread protests that could destabilise parts of the Islamic
world friendly to the West.
Colonel Sam Gardiner, a Pentagon adviser, said Iran could try to
close the Strait of Hormuz, the route for 20% of the world’s
oil.
Some sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would
have the nerve to attack Iran. However, Dr Ephraim Sneh, the
deputy Israeli defence minister, said last month: “The time is
approaching when Israel and the international community will
have to decide whether to take military action against Iran.”
© Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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