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BREAKING NEWS | |
TIMING OF POTENTIAL ATTACK ON IRAN?
Big difference in U.S. and Israeli views
February 04, 2012
 Print ad from 1970s produced by American nuclear power companies promoting the fact that Iran is developing nuclear power under orders of the U.S. supported dictator the Shah of Iran, despite the nation's huge oil reserves. CLICK TO ENLARGE  Satellite image of Iran's nuclear facilities. CLICK TO ENLARGE
Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast peace negotiator in the Clinton administration, said Friday the U.S. and Israel have a “significant analytic difference” over estimates of how close Iran is to shielding its nuclear program from attack.
Bloomberg News quotes Miller as saying, “There’s a growing concern, more than a concern that the Israelis, in order to protect themselves, might launch a strike without approval, warning or even foreknowledge.”
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is now on record as saying his country has to consider conducting “an operation”- which many believe refers only to a preemptive strike - before Iran reaches an “immunity zone, meaning Iran’s goal of protecting its uranium enrichment and other nuclear operations by moving them to deep underground facilities that are virtually impossible to destroy with bombs.
Barak, in a speech to a group in Tel Aviv, said “the world has no doubt that Iran’s nuclear program is steadily nearing readiness and is about to enter an immunity zone…if the sanctions don’t achieve their goal of halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program, there will arise the need of weighing an operation.”
The U.S. still maintains there is time available to pursue diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program, according to State Department spokesman Mark Toner/
He said Friday that the U.S. “is absolutely committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”
However Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said his nation won’t abandon its nuclear efforts and warns that a strike against his nation’s nuclear program would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East “10 times over,” according to one news service report.
Meantime U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declined to comment on a report by the Washington Post that Panetta thinks there is a strong likelihood Israel will strike out against Iran in April, May or June.
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