Possible Israeli Strike At Iran's Nuclear Plants?

Asaad Telhami     Al-Hayat     2003/08/15

Nazareth

Sources close to the Israeli Premier denied reports that Sharon had discussed last month with President Bush the possibility of Israel carrying out a preemptive strike at Iran's nuclear plants. Army Radio reported diplomats at the Israeli embassy in Washington saying that "Sharon informed Bush that the Iranian nuclear reactor in Boushar would be a threat to Israel if it reached the stage of producing uranium, and this would require speedy intervention."

The Israeli media reopened the Iranian file, after The Washington Post published an article on Tuesday about this issue. The American paper reported U.S. concerns that Israel would attack Iran's nuclear capacities, from fear of it reaching a point of no-return, namely its ability to build its first nuclear bomb. 

The Washington Times mentioned that Sharon, based on satellite pictures of the Iranian nuclear plants which he showed Bush, left the Americans with the impression that Israel was planning for a military action, as it did in 1981 when it bombed the nuclear reactor in Iraq. The Americans reportedly fear that such plan would be carried out before Iran succeeds in producing nuclear weapons, thus "threatening the whole region with a nuclear disaster." The newspaper added that there was a gap between Israel's estimates of the time Iran needs to achieve this target, and the American estimates. While Israel said Iran would need two to three years at the most, the Americans are saying it would need four years. Referring to Israeli estimates, Tel Aviv demands "taking immediate action to stop and destroy the Iranian efforts," which means it has one year at most to do so! The Israeli daily Ha'aretz wrote that "by dramatically exposing the Iranian threat," Sharon wanted to express his discontent about the way Washington was handling this case, thus forcing it to step up its pressures on Russia to stop supplying Iran with material and technology, and convince it to stop supplying it with nuclear fuel for the reactor in Boushar.      

Ha'aretz' political commentator, Aluf Benn, said that The Washington Post didn't disclose any information about the Israeli military plans and the government's intentions to deal with Iran, but it did leave the impression that Sharon is still enjoying and benefiting from "the deterrent image of a dangerous and tyrannical leader who won't hesitate to carry out a military action and sabotage the American programs and interests in the Middle East." He continued that Sharon turned to this behavior on the eve of the war on Iraq, making the U.S. administration fear from an Israeli intervention in the war, so "it started spoiling it by defending and supporting it militarily and financially." He considered that Sharon is being careful in threatening Iraq to avoid unnecessary escalation and that he prefers to have a vague attitude leaving the Arabs, Iranians and Americans confused in this mystery. The commentator continues to say that Israel is aware that operating a military strike against Iran is more complicated than hitting the Iraqi reactor, for the distance is longer and forces its planes to cross two nations that couldn't possibly cooperate with it, not to mention the fact that Iran is capable of hitting Israel back with force." This makes it lower the tone of its threats and let the U.S. lead the battle against the Iranian armament through diplomatic channels.   

On another hand, the official Israeli television stated that Israel might not resort to its air force to destroy the nuclear reactor in Iran but rather to its intelligence agents (Mossad) who played a great role in destroying the Iraqi reactor.