Report: Iran Preparing to Fire Missiles at Dimona
Source: Al-Manar TV, 29-06-2008
Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with ‘Israel's' Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets, the London-based Times newspaper reported Sunday, quoting defense sources. According to the report, the movement of Shahab-3B missiles, which have an estimated range of more than 1,250 miles, followed a reported large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the ‘Israel' Air Force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Iran's nuclear installations.
General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, has issued a new warning against Israel not to attack it, saying the country is well within range of its missiles, the
Iranian Jam-e Jam newspaper reported on Saturday.
"'Israel' is completely within the range of the Islamic republic's missiles. Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime, despite all its abilities, cannot confront it," he said.
"There is the possibility that by attacking Iranian nuclear sites the enemy wants to delay our nuclear activities, but any interruption would be very short since Iranian scientific ability is different from that of Syria and Iraq."
SHAVIT: IN CASE SANCTIONS DON'T WORK, WHAT'S LEFT IS MILITARY ACTION
Meanwhile, former Mossad Director Shabtai Shavit has warned that Israel has only one year to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
In an interview with the British Telegraph newspaper published Sunday, Shavit said that the "worst-case scenario" is that Iran may have a nuclear weapon within "somewhere around a year".
"As an intelligence officer working with the worst-case scenario, I can tell you we should be prepared," he added. "We should do whatever necessary on the defensive side, on the offensive side, on the public opinion side for the West, in case sanctions don't work. What's left is a military action."
The former Mossad chief also addressed the possibility that an attack on Iran would be thwarted if Democratic candidate Barack Obama is elected US president.
"If (Republican candidate John) McCain gets elected, he could really easily make a decision to go for it. If it's Obama: no. My prediction is that he won't go for it, at least not in his first term in the White House," Shavit said.
SEYMOUR HERSH: $400 MILLION IS COST OF COVERT OPERATIONS AGAINST IRAN
Last year, U.S. congressional leaders agreed to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.
The article by reporter Seymour Hersh centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.
"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved "working with opposition groups and passing money."
Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including an April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested regime change in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal.
Funding for the covert escalation, for which Bush requested up to $400 million, was approved by congressional leaders, according to the article, citing current and former military, intelligence and congressional sources.
Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. U.S. Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross border operations from southern Iraq since last year, the article said.
But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the Central Intelligence Agency, have now been significantly expanded, the article said, citing current and former officials.
Many of these activities are not specified in the new finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature, it said.
Among groups inside Iran benefiting from U.S. support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to former CIA officer Robert Baer. Council on Foreign Relations analyst Vali Nasr described it to Hersh as a vicious organization suspected of links to Al-Qaeda.
The article said U.S. support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.
None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.
The United States is leading international efforts to rein in Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, although Washington concedes Iran has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian uses.
Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with ‘Israel's' Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets, the London-based Times newspaper reported Sunday, quoting defense sources. According to the report, the movement of Shahab-3B missiles, which have an estimated range of more than 1,250 miles, followed a reported large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the ‘Israel' Air Force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Iran's nuclear installations.
General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, has issued a new warning against Israel not to attack it, saying the country is well within range of its missiles, the
Iranian Jam-e Jam newspaper reported on Saturday.
"'Israel' is completely within the range of the Islamic republic's missiles. Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime, despite all its abilities, cannot confront it," he said.
"There is the possibility that by attacking Iranian nuclear sites the enemy wants to delay our nuclear activities, but any interruption would be very short since Iranian scientific ability is different from that of Syria and Iraq."
SHAVIT: IN CASE SANCTIONS DON'T WORK, WHAT'S LEFT IS MILITARY ACTION
Meanwhile, former Mossad Director Shabtai Shavit has warned that Israel has only one year to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
In an interview with the British Telegraph newspaper published Sunday, Shavit said that the "worst-case scenario" is that Iran may have a nuclear weapon within "somewhere around a year".
"As an intelligence officer working with the worst-case scenario, I can tell you we should be prepared," he added. "We should do whatever necessary on the defensive side, on the offensive side, on the public opinion side for the West, in case sanctions don't work. What's left is a military action."
The former Mossad chief also addressed the possibility that an attack on Iran would be thwarted if Democratic candidate Barack Obama is elected US president.
"If (Republican candidate John) McCain gets elected, he could really easily make a decision to go for it. If it's Obama: no. My prediction is that he won't go for it, at least not in his first term in the White House," Shavit said.
SEYMOUR HERSH: $400 MILLION IS COST OF COVERT OPERATIONS AGAINST IRAN
Last year, U.S. congressional leaders agreed to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.
The article by reporter Seymour Hersh centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.
"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved "working with opposition groups and passing money."
Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including an April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested regime change in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal.
Funding for the covert escalation, for which Bush requested up to $400 million, was approved by congressional leaders, according to the article, citing current and former military, intelligence and congressional sources.
Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. U.S. Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross border operations from southern Iraq since last year, the article said.
But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the Central Intelligence Agency, have now been significantly expanded, the article said, citing current and former officials.
Many of these activities are not specified in the new finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature, it said.
Among groups inside Iran benefiting from U.S. support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to former CIA officer Robert Baer. Council on Foreign Relations analyst Vali Nasr described it to Hersh as a vicious organization suspected of links to Al-Qaeda.
The article said U.S. support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.
None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.
The United States is leading international efforts to rein in Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, although Washington concedes Iran has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian uses.
