Israel Matzav

US 'contingency plan' for attack on Iran detailed

The BBC is reporting this morning on what it calls 'contingency plans' for an American attack on Iran. The planned attack involves much more than nuclear facilities:

But diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran.

That list includes Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. Facilities at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr are also on the target list, the sources say.

...

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.

Alternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran.

Long range B2 stealth bombers would drop so-called "bunker-busting" bombs in an effort to penetrate the Natanz site, which is buried some 25m (27 yards) underground.

The BBC's Tehran correspondent France Harrison says the news that there are now two possible triggers for an attack is a concern to Iranians.

Authorities insist there is no cause for alarm but ordinary people are now becoming a little worried, she says.

The only thing that makes this even somewhat believeable is the fact that President Bush does not have to face re-election in 2008, and therefore may have the guts to do the right thing if necessary. Because you know the left will be all over him if he does this, even if not doing it means that God forbid Israel suffers a nuclear attack.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:52 PM