Israel: “The possibility of a military attack against Iran is closer than the diplomatic option”
Just following up on the post by Global Macro Monitor this morning, I note from French daily L’Express the following:
Israeli President Shimon Peres continues to make plans for the threat of military action against Iran ahead of the publication by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Tehran’s nuclear program.
"The possibility of a military attack against Iran is closer than the diplomatic option," the president said in an interview with the daily Israel Hayom .
"I do not think a decision on it has been made already, but the prevailing view is that the Iranians are getting close to getting an atomic bomb. Apparently this could happen within a year," the President said.
"We cannot reveal to the enemy what our intentions are. You have to be discreet about everything that is operational," said Mr. Peres.
In a previous interview with the second private TV channel, the president asserted that "intelligence agencies of various countries that monitor (Iran) are concerned and urge their leaders to warn that Iran is ready to obtain nuclear weapons."
[my translation]
Now, this could just be bluster and rhetoric. But then again it may be something else. I think it bears watching.
Source: Israël: une attaque contre l’Iran "plus proche" que l’option diplomatique – L’Express
I think that the noise around Iran has two main goals: pressing for more sanctions after the IAEA report is released, and diverting attention in Israel from the ongoing social protests. The threats serve the Iranian regime as well, which is busy with its own problems. I’ve written about it extensively…
A physics student some 14 years ago demonstrated that it was NOT that difficult to build a nuclear weapon using available information on the Internet. He published his findings. A big scandal started. I just CAN NOT believe that the Iranians with the resources of the Petro-dollars can not get the smarts necessary to accomplish what has been accomplished in poorer Countries like Argentina and develop their own nuclear arsenal. Thus, they must be very, very close, unless you assume that they are a bunch of idiots, which when you study Islan, doesn’t seem probable. The publicity campaing seem semilar to what happened begore Irak was attacked the second time.