Israel mulling strike on Iran nuclear facilities

Israel mulling strike on Iran nuclear facilities –  Washington, 5 March (IranVNC)—Israel is seriously considering taking unilateral military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, although the time frame for action is quickly fading, according to a report by top US political figures and experts released Wednesday.The nine-page report, entitled “Preventing a Cascade of Instability”, was put out by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.The bipartisan group, several of whose members met high-level Israeli officials to assess their perspective, said that Israeli leaders seem convinced that at least for now, they have a military option.

IranVNC – Iran Visual News Corps – Israel mulling strike on Iran nuclear facilities – report – Iran VNC

March 6, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel seen undermining nuclear disarmament – ElBaradei

Mon Feb 16, 2009

BERLIN (Reuters) – A perception among Arab nations that Israel has undermined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a major obstacle to global nuclear disarmament, head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

Tensions within the IAEA run deep over Israel’s presumed nuclear might and its shunning of the NPT. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal but it has never confirmed or denied it.

In an article for the International Herald Tribune, Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, set out what he thought should be done to achieve consensus on nuclear disarmament.

“What compounds the problem is that the nuclear non-proliferation regime has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of Arab public opinion because of the perceived double-standards concerning Israel, the only state in the region outside the NPT and known to possess nuclear weapons,” he wrote.

ElBaradei also reiterated he was encouraged by new U.S. President Barack Obama’s commitment to making the elimination of all nuclear weapons a central part of his policy platform.

To do that, nations have to overcome cynical attitudes to the United Nations, he said.

“The U.N. and related agencies must be given adequate authority and funding and put in the hands of leaders who have vision, courage and credibility,” wrote ElBaradei.

In a broadside against the United States and Israel, he said: “Above all, we need to halt the glaring breach of core principles of international law such as limitations on the unilateral use of force, proportionality in self-defence and the protection of civilians during hostilities in order to avoid a repeat of the civilian carnage in Iraq and, most recently, in Gaza.”

ElBaradei, who is due to leave office in November when his third term expires, clashed with the former Bush administration over what he saw as its unilateralism and refusal to engage with foes like Iran.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38051120090216

February 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel launches covert war against Iran

February 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Iran next target, warns Israeli diplomat

Iran next target, warns Israeli diplomat The Age  Jason Koutsoukis, Jerusalem * February 14, 2009

A SENIOR Israeli diplomat has warned that Israel is ready to launch a military offensive against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

In an interview with The Age, Dan Gillerman, who was Israel’s permanent representative at the United Nations from 2003 until last September, said time for diplomatic efforts to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear capability might have already expired……………………….Detailed military plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear enrichment plant have long been on the table of Israeli military commanders……………….

Israel has carried out two strikes on suspected nuclear sites over the past 30 years. In 1981, its jets bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak, and in September 2007, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that was alleged to have housed a nuclear reactor.

Any new attack against Iran would be much more complicated, with the country’s uranium enrichment plants spread across many sites. Iran’s comparatively sophisticated military and its distance from Israel would present further complications for military planners and risk setting off a full-scale war.

Iran next target, warns Israeli diplomat | theage.com.au

February 14, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment