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Israel considering 'all options' to curb Iran
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-30 13:37
A military strike is among Israel's options to prevent Iran from producing
nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Wednesday in the latest
threat by the Jewish state against its arch-foe.
Asked by a newspaper if Iranian atomic facilities could be bombed - a tactic
Israel used to destroy Iraq's main reactor in 1981 - Mofaz said: "All options
for preventing this (Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons) will be considered.
"The important thing is to stop the current (Iranian) regime reaching a
nuclear option," Mofaz told Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi told CNN television on Tuesday that
Iran is not trying to build a nuclear bomb, but it has developed long and
medium-range missiles to defend itself against potential threats.
Asked if Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons, Kharazi replied: "Not at
all. We are against a nuclear bomb. And it's not part of our defense strategy."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Tehran to
immediately halt all activities related to uranium enrichment, a process that
can make the explosive material for nuclear weapons.
Kharazi said Iran wants to promote a nuclear-free Middle East and he stressed
that UN weapons inspectors had not found any nuclear weapon programs in Iran.
Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday the army had taken
delivery of a new "strategic missile" but it is unclear if the weapon is the
Shahab-3 medium-range missile, acquired by the Revolutionary Guards in July.
The Shahab-3 is believed to be based on a North Korean design and is thought
to be capable of carrying a one-ton warhead at least 1,300 kilometers, well
within range of Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
Asked what Tehran would do if Israel launched an air strike against the
country's nuclear facilities, Kharazi replied: "We would be able to react. How
we do react, I cannot tell you that."
Washington is leading diplomatic pressure on Iran to come clean on its atomic
program.
"The American ... demands for invasive inspection, threat of sanctions -
appear to be the right thing to do," Mofaz said.
"On the other hand, the Iranians are doing everything possible to buy time.
The question is what will happen first - nuclear capability or a change in the
regime?"
Israeli officials say Iran could produce atomic weapons by 2007, fueling
speculation Israel may strike militarily first.
Widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, Israel plans to
buy 500 "bunker buster" bombs from its U.S. ally that could be delivered by
long-range jets and prove effective against Iran's facilities, many of which are
underground.
"It is possible that Western agencies, doubtful about the success of the
diplomatic effort, prefer to have Israel act in their place," the liberal
Haaretz newspaper said on Wednesday.
"Nobody has asked Israel to refrain from a belligerent act."
However military and strategic analysts in Israel and abroad say even with
the new weaponry, Israel lacks the ability to carry out a successful strike
against Iran's nuclear installations.
"You have to have solid intelligence, you have to know what to hit ... The
intelligence on Iran is very weak," said Alex Vatanka, an expert on Iranian
security issues at Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments in London.
Israeli strategic analyst Reuven Pedatzur pointed to a claim last year by
Iranian opposition figures that foreign intelligence services have been unaware
of two of the Iranian nuclear facilities.
"There is no good intelligence on Iran, and this is the proof," he said. "Any
Israeli attack on Iran would cause huge political damage, and in the end, the
program would proceed."
Other difficulties in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities include their
dispersal throughout the country, their sophisticated defense systems and the
likelihood that some of the installations have been replicated, said Cliff
Kupchan, vice president of the Nixon Center in Washington, a former Clinton
administration Iranian expert who met with Iranian officials during a visit
there last year.
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