The Sunday Times January 07, 2007
Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on IranUzi Mahnaimi, New York and Sarah
Baxter, Washington
ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Irans uranium
enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force
squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear
bunker-busters, according to several Israeli military sources.
NI_MPU('middle'); The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since
1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the
Hiroshima bomb. Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open
tunnels into the targets. Mini-nukes would then immediately be fired into a
plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive
fallout. As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one
strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished, said one of the
sources. The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times
last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service
Mossads assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched
uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years. Israeli military commanders
believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly
well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least
70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be
used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States
declined to intervene, senior sources said. Israeli and American officials
have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the
disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt
enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of
an Israeli attack. Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a
strike could range from disruption of oil supplies to the
West to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world. Israel
has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are believed to be
involved in Irans nuclear programme:
Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium
enrichment
A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a statement by
an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the enrichment process
have been stored in tunnels
A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough plutonium for
a bomb Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay
Irans nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in
fear of a second Holocaust. The Israeli government has warned repeatedly
that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that Israel must be wiped off the map.
Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described
military action against Iran as a last resort, leading Israeli officials to
conclude that it will be left to them to strike. Israeli pilots have flown to
Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian
targets. Three possible routes have been mapped out, including one over Turkey.
NI_MPU('middle'); Air force squadrons based at Hatzerim in the
Negev desert and Tel Nof, south of Tel Aviv, have trained to use Israels
tactical nuclear weapons on the mission. The preparations have been overseen by
Major General Eliezer Shkedi, commander of the Israeli air force. Sources
close to the Pentagon said the United States was highly unlikely to give
approval for tactical nuclear weapons to be used. One source said Israel would
have to seek approval after the event, as it did when it crippled Iraqs
nuclear reactor at Osirak with airstrikes in 1981.
Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the
bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium compounds would be
released. The Israelis believe that Irans retaliation would be constrained
by fear of a second strike if it were to launch its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles
at Israel. However, American experts warned of repercussions, including
widespread protests that could destabilise parts of the Islamic world friendly
to the West. Colonel Sam Gardiner, a Pentagon adviser, said Iran could try to
close the Strait of Hormuz, the route for 20% of the worlds oil. Some
sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would have the nerve to
attack Iran. However, Dr Ephraim Sneh, the deputy Israeli defence minister,
said last month: The time is approaching when Israel and the international
community will have to decide whether to take military action against Iran.
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