The idea may sound frightening, but Israel’s declarations about its ability to bomb Iranian nuclear targets may be no bluff. Israeli military experts have no doubt that the Israel Air Force could paralyze Iran’s nuclear program, if necessary, according to a “Newsweek” magazine issue published yesterday.
The ”Newsweek” report, which quotes former and present Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sources, looks like another part of an Israeli campaign to motivate the US and Western European countries to take tough action against Iran. Other elements of the campaign are acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s uncompromising statements against Iran, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni visit to Washington today, which is aimed at emphasizing to the US administration the gravity with which Israel regards Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.
”Newsweek” itself says that the threats emanating from Israeli sources may be a means of persuading the West to adopt a tough stance against Iran before the arms race in the region heats up even more.
Israeli specialists quoted in “Newsweek” say that the trick is to attack the Iranian nuclear system at its weak points.
”Bottlenecks must be spotted,” a senior Israeli source, who remained anonymous for security reasons, told “Newsweek”. “There aren’t many of them. If you destroy them, you disrupt the project.”
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Brom, former head of the strategic planning division in the planning branch of the IDF general staff, and a senior research associate at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that destroying two or three key facilities would almost certainly render Iran’s entire nuclear system unusable. He noted that the Natanz nuclear complex and the Isfahan uranium conversion facility were critical for the Iranian nuclear program.
”Newsweek” said that bombing these installations would not be easy. Iran, which has almost certainly drawn conclusions from the bombing of Iraq’s nuclear reactor by Israel in 1981, is making every effort to protect potential targets like Natanz.
A senior IDF source said that the targets were “widely dispersed and underground, with hard protective coverings. US analysts said that causing significant damage to such targets would require many hits.
Israeli sources stress, however, that the Israel Air Forces possesses the firepower and munitions necessary for such a mission: over 100 US-made bunker busters capable of penetrating underground targets. “It appears to me that these bombs can do the job,” a senior IDF source said.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 7, 2006