Report Says US, Israel Should Attack Iran Soon To Avoid Nuke Fallout
Pastor Dale Morgan
Report Says US, Israel Should Attack Iran Soon To Avoid Nuke Fallout*
Mar 28th, 2007 9:23 AM
Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem
IRAN is several years away from nuclear capability but any plan for a
pre-emptive attack on its nuclear sites may have to be implemented
before the end of the year to avoid the danger of serious radiation fallout.
Sources cited by The Jerusalem Post say a US or Israeli strike on the
Iranian facilities would probably be carried out before Iran had
enriched weapons-grade material in sufficient amounts to trigger a
nuclear catastrophe if hit.
Iran is believed to be attempting to produce a critical mass of enriched
uranium before the end of the year. Any attack after that would risk
triggering fallout that could kill civilians over large distances and
make parts of Iran uninhabitable.
The same consideration figured in the timing of Israel's attack on
Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.
The Israeli cabinet decided then to approve the attack when it learned
that a shipment of enriched uranium fuel rods was due to arrive at the
new reactor south of Baghdad. An attack on the reactor once it became
"live" would release massive radiation, experts had warned. It would
turn the bombing into a nuclear attack, despite the use of conventional
armaments.
Israeli warplanes demolished the Iraqi reactor before the rods could be
installed.
In view of the possibility of an early strike against the Iranian
facilities, several foreign embassies in Tehran are reportedly updating
their emergency evacuation plans, including choosing alternate land
routes out of the country.
Israeli officials welcomed Sunday's decision by the UN Security Council
to impose tougher sanctions on Iran in an effort to persuade Tehran to
suspend its uranium enrichment program.
The officials said earlier sanctions by the Security Council, though
relatively mild, were already having an effect. They said influential
voices were being heard in Tehran calling on the Government to avoid
escalating the confrontation with the international community.
Iran announced yesterday that it would partially suspend co-operation
with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency in response to the
Security Council vote, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the
latest sanctions would not halt the country's uranium enrichment "even
for a second". Iranian state television quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying
the additional sanctions "stem from the hostility by some powers against
Iran".
"It is not a new issue for the Iranian nation. Enemies of the Iranian
nation have made a mistake this time, too," he said.
The West strongly suspects that Iran's nuclear activities are aimed at
producing weapons, though Tehran says they are exclusively for producing
energy.
Additional reporting: AP