- JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel
has hinted at possible military action to stop what it calls a nightmare
scenario - nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran - but for now is waiting
for US diplomatic pressure and closer international scrutiny to do the
job.
-
- Iran insists its nuclear programs are only for generating
electricity as oil supplies dwindle. It also has said its equipment was
"contaminated" with enriched uranium by a previous owner.
-
- But Israel estimates Iran is just two to three years
away from having nuclear weapons.
-
- An Israeli government official said Iran does not yet
have the right amount of enriched uranium, as well as some other chemicals,
needed to build a nuclear bomb, but it has the "know-how" and
the ability to develop the materials. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity.
-
- The delivery method - the long-range Shahab-3 missile
- was successfully tested in July, and experts said Iran is to begin serial
production within two years.
-
- If diplomacy fails, Israel, which is about 600 miles
(965 kilometers) to the west of Iran, has made clear a military operation
is feasible.
-
- Israeli security officials said Iran's nuclear programme
is a focus of the army's five-year strategic plan, and Sharon has ordered
the Mossad spy service to keep a close eye on the developments in Tehran.
-
- "Any Iranian regime knows of course that Israel
has the capability, the wherewithal, to deal with a military threat,"
said Zalman Shoval, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "Hopefully,
a military threat can be avoided, nipped in the bud ... before it begins
and this is where the United States comes in."
-
- Israel has never confirmed being a nuclear power, but
it is widely believed to have nuclear weapons. In 1981, a fleet of Israeli
warplanes flew some 460 miles (740 kilometers) over Middle Eastern deserts
and mountains to Baghdad - sticking close to the ground throughout the
flight to avoid being picked up by radars.
-
- The warplanes let loose a string of bombs, knocking out
Baghdad's nuclear reactors and halting Saddam Hussein's progress in obtaining
nuclear weapons. At the time, the operation was internationally condemned,
even by Israel's staunchest ally, the United States. However, the September
11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States have changed the rules.
-
- US troops have overthrown regimes in Afghanistan and
Iraq, both on Iran's borders, in less than two years. Tehran is aware that
as a member of President George W Bush's "axis of evil" it could
be next in line.
- "Iran must cooperate fully. Iran has pledged not
to develop nuclear weapons and the entire international community must
hold that regime to its commitments," Bush recently said.
-
- Iran apparently believes the attack could come from the
United States or Israel and announced it was increasing its defence spending
this year. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi recently
warned Israel against embarking on an "adventure" similar to
the 1981 strike, saying "it will pay dearly" if it does so.
-
- The United States and Israel would most likely choose
to carry out pinpoint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, rather than
a large-scale assault if forced to take military measures, said Ephraim
Kam, a researcher with Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Centre for Strategic
Studies. Kam released a study last week on Iran's nuclear capabilities.
-
- "A combination of nuclear capabilities and long-range
missile capabilities ... combined with their position that Israel should
not exist is a real threat," Kam said.
-
- Suspicions about Iran's nuclear activities prompted IAEA
chief Mohamed El Baradei in February to tour Iran's nuclear facilities,
including the incomplete plant in Natanz, about 300 miles (480 kilometers)
south of Tehran. Diplomats said he was taken aback by the advanced stage
of a project using hundreds of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
-
- Another, larger uranium enrichment facility, is to be
completed within the next few years, Western intelligence agencies discovered
with the help of Iranian opposition groups.
-
- El Baradei has said that Iran's nuclear program has been
going on far longer than the agency had realized and that it's possible
Tehran had bought nuclear components on the "black market."
-
- "I would urge Iran in the coming weeks to show proactive
and accelerated cooperation, and to demonstrate full transparency by providing
the agency with a complete and accurate declaration of all its nuclear
activities," he said Monday in Vienna, Austria.
-
- The United States is pushing the IAEA to report to the
UN Security Council that Iran is violating nuclear safeguard regulations,
opening the door to economic sanctions. Tehran recently signaled that it
is open to negotiating terms for snap UN inspections of its nuclear sites.
--AP
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- http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-9-2003_pg4_12
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