Israel Matzav

Sunday Times of London: Israel and Saudis developing contingency plan for attack on Iran

Take this with a grain of salt, because the source is the oft-overstated Sunday Times of London, but a report in today's edition claims that the Mossad and the Saudis are developing contingency plans to attack Iran.

According to the Times, Riyadh has already given its consent for Israel to use Saudi airspace for a potential attack on Iran.

The paper quoted a diplomatic source as saying the Saudis were willing to assist an Israeli attack by cooperating on the use of drones, rescue helicopters and tanker planes.

“Once the Geneva agreement is signed, the military option will be back on the table. The Saudis are furious and are willing to give Israel all the help it needs,” the Times quoted the source as saying. 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in an interview with French daily Le Figaro on Saturday that there is a “meeting of the minds” between Israel and the “leading states in the Arab world” on the Iran issue – “one of the few cases in memory, if not the first case in modern times.

“We all think that Iran should not be allowed to have the capacities to make nuclear weapons,” he said. “We all think that a tougher stance should be taken by the international community. We all believe that if Iran were to have nuclear weapons, this could lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, making the Middle East a nuclear tinderbox.”

Saying that an Iran with nuclear arms would be the most dangerous development for the world since the mid-20th century, and stressing that the “stakes are amazing,” Netanyahu urged the world’s leaders to pay attention “when Israel and the Arabs see eye-to-eye.”

“We live here,” he said. “We know something about this region. We know a great deal about Iran and its plans. It’s worthwhile to pay attention to what we say.”

This is not the first time this has come up as a possibility. But given that the Saudis threatened in 2012 to shoot down Israeli planes attacking Iran, I'd like a little more than the Sunday Times of London on which to base this report.

Labels: Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran, our friends the Saudis

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:55 AM