Iran has a Shihab-3 missile aimed at Dimona?
On Saturday, Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari (pictured) claimed that Israel 'cannot stop' Iran and that Iran has all of Israel within its missile range. In comments published on Saturday in the Iranian newspaper Jam-e Jam, the Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said that Israel "is completely within the range of the Islamic republic's missiles" and it cannot confront Iran's missile power.Sunday's Times of London is reporting that one of the locations in Israel which is targeted by Iranian missiles is Israel's alleged nuclear power plant in Dimona.
"The enemy possibly wants to delay our nuclear activities by attacking our nuclear sites, but any interruption would be very short since Iranian scientific ability is different from that of Syria and Iraq [both of whose nuclear plants were destroyed by Israel. CiJ]," he said.
Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets, defence sources said last week.As it happens, the Chairman of the United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, was in Israel on Saturday. Coincidence? Maybe. But there's also apparently something going on.
The movement of Shahab-3B missiles, which have an estimated range of more than 1,250 miles, followed a large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the Israeli air force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. Israel believes Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.
The sources said Iran was preparing to retaliate for any onslaught by firing missiles at Dimona, where Israel’s own nuclear weapons are believed to be made.
“Although the visit had been planned well in advance, we got the feeling he was coming to make sure we’ll obey the strict timetable agreed with the US,” said an Israeli defence source. He refused to elaborate.President Bush is also helping Israelis in another important way.
President George Bush has approved the linking of Israel to a US infrared satellite detection system that could spot Shahab missile launches within seconds.I should probably add a caveat here that the Times of London piece was written by Uzi Mahnaimi, who has jumped the gun in the past.
This should enable the Israeli air force to destroy such missiles in the booster stage. The system will also give the Israelis about 15 minutes to seek shelter before any warhead hits.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that there is apparently a deadline beyond which Israel will not wait to attack Iran. My guess is that the deadline is not dependent on only one factor, and that it may well change depending upon, for example, whether Obama or McCain wins the US Presidential election. But what should be clear to everyone is that Israel is not going to allow Iran to attain nuclear weapons unchallenged. And at least as long as President Bush is in power, the United States is at least going to go along with Israel doing the dirty work, if not participate in it itself.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:35 PM
3 Comments:
This pinhead can't afford a decent razor and he thinks he can defeat the Israeli military?
Dude, pass the single malt.
I think the IDF will get the job done in spite of the country's feckless leaders. They'll grab the glory if it succeeds. But should they be credited with it? Nah.
If Shahib 3's are launched against the Dimona reactor, I can't imagine it would be as devistating as Israel striking Iran's reactors. First, Israel can pause its nuclear activities prior to Israel attacking Iran, , so that if Dimona is attacked, it will have no nuclear material. In such a case Israel could rebuild a new reactor quickly, and since it did not sign the NTBT, it would be legal.
On the other hand, destroying Iran's nuclear plants would set back their goal of obtaining nuclear weapons because presumably, unlike Israel, Iran does not have an existing cache of nuclear weapons.
Israel MUST attack Iran's nukes. It has no other choice.
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