Possibility of an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities is fast emerging as both political and military leaders of the Jewish State claim that all of the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites are vulnerable and that a "military option is real and ready to be used if sanctions fail."
Speaking at the 12th Herzliya Conference on Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said there was a consensus among many nations today that if diplomacy and sanctions failed to stop Iran, a military strike should be launched. "If sanctions don't achieve the desired goal of stopping [Iran's] military nuclear program, there will be a need to consider taking action," he was quoted as saying by the Jerusalem Post.
"A nuclear Iran will be more complicated to deal with, more dangerous and more costly in blood than if it were stopped today," he said. "In other words, he who says in English 'later' may find that 'later is too late.'"
Barak's threat was supported earlier in the day by Vice-Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon who said that Iran needed to be stopped "one way or another" and that a credible military threat needed to be on the table. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Benny Gantz had also expressed similar views when he addressed the Conference on Wednesday.
A former IDF Chief of Staff, Ya'alon dismissed arguments that underground Iranian nuclear sites such as the Fordow facility would escape bunker-buster bombs. "From my military experience, human beings will know how to penetrate any installation protected by other human beings. Ultimately all the facilities can be hit," he warned.
Earlier in the day, Military Intelligence Chief Maj-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Iran had built up a stockpile of enriched uranium that could be used to manufacture at least four nuclear weapons.
He said once Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the decision to go to the "breakout stage" and begin enriching uranium to military-grade levels, it would take the Iranians a year to make a crude device and another year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that could be installed on a ballistic missile. As per intelligence he had gathered, Iran had obtained four tons of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent and another 100 kilograms enriched to 20 percent.
"Iran's motivations are: to create hegemony in the region; deterrence; and to become an international player," Kochavi said. "They claim that they are developing the program for peaceful purposes but our intelligence shows without a doubt that Iran is continuing its work on developing a nuclear weapon."
Israel's stepped up threats came as a U.S. newspaper reported that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes that an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuke facilities is likely in April, May or June.
In his speech, Ya'alon disclosed that Iran had been developing a missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers that would have been capable of reaching the United States. He said the missile was destroyed, though, in the mysterious explosion that rocked a missile base near Tehran on November 12, killing 17 Iranian soldiers, including the father of Iran's missile program. According to Ya'alon, the missile was based on a solid fuel propellant and would have significantly increased the Islamic Republic's offensive capabilities.
Ya'alon also accused Turkey of helping Iran bypass the sanctions imposed on it in recent months. According to the Vice-Premier, who was in the United States last week for talks on Iran with senior officials of the Obama administration, Turkey was helping Iran circumvent the sanctions by allowing it to use its banking system.
Ya'alon said the Israeli government was committed to stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions "in one way or another."
"We need a credible military option. The Iranians understand the West has capabilities, but as long as the Iranians don't think that the West has the political stomach and determination to use it they will not stop," Ya'alon said. "Currently they don't think that the world is determined."
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