Israel Matzav: Tel Aviv U simulates first 48 hours after Israeli attack on Iran

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Tel Aviv U simulates first 48 hours after Israeli attack on Iran

A Tel Aviv University think tank has simulated the first 48 hours after an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear weapons capability. The attack is undertaken solely by Israel. And get this - the attack is presumed to take place on November 9, 2012 - three days after the US election. Hmmm.

The Tel Aviv University-based institute began the game with the following “announcement”: “Al Jazeera reported that Israeli planes attacked nuclear sites in Iran in three assault waves. Following the reports, Israel officially announced it attacked nuclear sites in Iran, since it had no other choice.”

In this scenario, the strike successfully destroyed nuclear sites and set Iran’s nuclear weapons program back by three years.

As part of the exercise, Iran responded with full force, firing some 200 Shihab missiles at Israel in two waves, and calling on its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas and other radical organizations, to attack Israel. At first, Iran refrained from striking US targets in the Persian Gulf region in the war game.

In the game, Israel, bolstered by a successful strike, attempted to absorb the attacks while trying to de-escalate the situation and reach an end to hostilities as soon as possible.
The international community remained paralyzed due to Russia’s attempts to exploit the situation to advance its strategic interests.

“After two days, the Iranians, and to a lesser extent, their allies, continue to attack Israel. The crisis did not appear to be approaching a solution,” the INSS concluded at the end of the war game.

Within the first 48 hours, Israel carried out a fourth air assault on Iran to complete the destruction of a main nuclear site.

“Israel’s strategic aim was to prevent a regional escalation and to strive to reach a level in which incidents were under control, in low intensity, as quickly as possible,” the INSS said.
Although the US was not notified in advance, Washington clearly sided with Israel and did not expose divisions, in order to show a united front and decrease the chances of a regional conflagration.

The US indicated its willingness to return to the negotiating table with Iran and to ease sanctions in exchange for Iranian restraint and an Iranian announcement that nuclear military activities had ceased.

The US stayed out of the fighting, based on a policy that it would only become involved if Iran were to shut off the globally important oil route of the Strait of Hormuz, or if Iran attacked US assets in the Gulf.

At first, Tehran shied away from a military confrontation with the US, but, the game’s participants found, “The more Iran was pushed into a corner and its options to act became limited, the more it understood that its principal card is to act against the US in the Gulf and to shut off the Strait of Hormuz,” the INSS said.

Want to know how Hezbullah and Hamas reacted? Read the whole thing. The scenario sounds realistic except for the part about Obama (who will still be President on November 9 even if Romney wins the election) clearly siding with Israel.

Labels: Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran