Israel nears attacking Iran

Press TV
March 5, 2009

Top US politicians have reportedly said that Israel is seriously considering taking unilateral military action against Iran.

As the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program heats up, top US advisors and experts on Middle East affairs, released a report on Wednesday, saying “Israel’s time frame for action (against Iran) is growing shorter.”

The experts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) said Israel feels an urgent need to take action against what it called “Iran’s advancement in acquiring nuclear weapons.”

[efoods]In the article: “Preventing a Cascade of Instability,” the bipartisan group reiterated that the Israeli officials were alarmed that “Tehran might soon acquire upgraded air defenses and disperse its nuclear program to additional locations.”

Several authors of the report however have met with high-level Israeli officials to evaluate their perspective, and noted that Israel is not interested in becoming part of an “American nuclear umbrella”.

“A declared US guarantee would clarify a situation of ambiguity that may already work to Israel’s advantage,” the report noted. Also, “many Israelis fear that a declared US guarantee could come at the price of circumscribing Israel’s freedom of action in confronting existential dangers.”

This is while former US ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg, noted that the timetable for an Israeli attack might be “significantly” moved up if Tel Aviv was under the impression that Russia was going to supply Iran with the S-300 surface-to-air missile system which would get in the way of any Israeli attack.

The 10-page document urges for more international sanctions and expanding financial pressure on Iran.

This article was posted: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 9:27 am

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