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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak: â€œMilitary strike on Iran remains a possibilityâ€

30 September 2009 10:49 (UTC +04:00)

Tel-Aviv â€“ APA. â€œThe world community must impose severe sanctions on Iran following the revelations of the clandestine uranium enrichment plant,â€ Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, APA reports. He said Israel is keeping all of its options on the table, suggesting a military strike on the facility is possible. Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called on the western states to give an unequivocal response to Iran. Israel regarded this fact as Iranâ€™s starting nuclear production. Head of Iran’s Joint Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabadi said Israelâ€™s threats are nothing but a bluff.

The reports that Israel will declare war on Iran are assessed differently in the West. Analyst of the Washington Times Armstrong Williams writes in his article:
â€œIran is already one of the foremost sponsors of terrorism in the world. If Iran achieves nuclear capability, it will undoubtedly step up its support to terrorist regimes. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad consistently refers to Israel as a cancerous tumor and has previously pledged to wipe Israel off the map. If Iran achieves nuclear-enrichment capacity, it will likely give a bomb to Syria, and perhaps even Hezbollah.
The idea of a nuclear Iran funneling weapons to groups that openly seek to bring about a cataclysm is terrifying. Hezbollah would not hesitate to attack the United States or one of its allies. Even if such groups are unable to launch a direct attack on the United States, they could target Saudi oil reserves and effectively bring this country -- and the global economy -- to a halt.
Moreover, Iranian development of a nuclear bomb would almost certainly kick-start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East -- further destabilizing the region. Iran seems convinced that the United States -- fatigued from war in Iraq and Afghanistan -- will not attack. Though President Obama has responded with threats of severe sanctions if Iran continues with its enrichment program, such sanctions are essentially meaningless without the full support of Russia and China -- both of whom clearly enjoy the problems that Iran is causing America and Europe. Saber rattling aside, Tehran has no real reason to feel immediately threatened by the United States.
The wild card in all of this is Israel. If upcoming peace talks between the United States and Tehran are unsuccessful, Israel will almost certainly declare war on Iran.
Stage 1 would involve airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, since many of these facilities are underground, it is possible that Israel would be unable to completely disable Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. In response, Iran would launch short-range missiles from Lebanon. At which point, Israel would have to decide whether to wipe Iran off the map with a full-fledged nuclear attack. The clearest way to avoid this scenario might be for Mr. Obama to set a hard timetable for Iran to abandon its program. Mr. Obama must make it clear that he will not allow Iran to merely buy time through talks. The more time we give Iran, the more successful it will be at hiding underground enrichment facilities and further securing its nuclear program. Diplomacy must be imbued with the credible threat of force. The United States must declare that it will employ devastating force to prevent a nuclear Iran.
In order to bolster its position, the United States should provide Israel with the "bunker-busting" bombs necessary to destroy Iran’s underground enrichment facilities. At the same time, the United States must lead an international coalition to combat Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. That coalition must not only impose economic sanctions, it must focus military and intelligence efforts in the region, including -- but not limited to -- the sale of anti-ballistic missiles to Gulf states. Finally, the United States must publicly proclaim that it will support Israel’s right to protect itself through pre-emptive attacks. In short, the United States must make it clear that Tehran’s nuclear brinkmanship threatens not just Mr. Ahmadinejad’s political survival, but also the survival of the Iranian republic.
Taking a hard stand will be unpopular. It will take an immense commitment at a time when U.S. military resources are already severely depleted. But treating Iran with kid gloves will only precipitate Iran’s march toward nuclear capacity -- and World War III and the long anticipated Armageddon.â€