"Israel" Appears to Have Held Drill on Iran Attack

Source: Al-Manar TV, 20-06-2008

The rhetoric of a possible ‘Israeli' military action to force changes in Iran's nuclear program is still taking place. After Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's threat to an Iranian attack, here comes a large Israeli military exercise said to be held to bomb Iran's nuclear program. Is it a message for Iran to stop its peaceful nuclear program, or a preliminary for a decisive attack?

U.S. officials say ‘Israel' carried out a large military exercise this month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Citing unidentified American officials, the newspaper said more than 100 ‘Israeli' F-16 and F-15 fighters took part in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June. It said the exercise appeared to be an effort to focus on long-range strikes and illustrates the seriousness with which ‘Israel' views Iran's nuclear program.

The newspaper said ‘Israeli' officials would not discuss the exercise.

A spokesman for the ‘Israel' War Forces would say only that the country's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing ‘Israel'," according to the Times. A Pentagon official who the Times said was briefed on the exercise said one goal was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and other details of a possible strike against Iran's nuclear installations and long-range conventional missiles.

The official said a second goal was to send a clear message that ‘Israel' was prepared to act militarily if other efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium fail. "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," the Pentagon official said, according to the Times. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."

Several US officials told the newspaper they did not believe ‘Israel' had decided to attack Iran or think such a strike was imminent.

‘Israeli' Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz warned to attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program. "If Iran continues its plan to develop nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The window of opportunity has closed. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no choice but to attack Iran to stop its nuclear program." Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution to the standoff but has not ruled out military action if that were to fail.

Meanwhile, Mofaz's threat promoted many condemnations from ‘Israel', UN and many other countries with Iran's President and defense minister warning of a "painful response" if ‘Israel' attacks Iran. Washington believes Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, while Tehran says its nuclear program is merely for peaceful energy purposes as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ‘Israel', US close ally, is widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal.