Israel could attack Iranian nuclear facilities this fall, before the presidential elections in the United States, according to sources quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
According to the website Ynetnews, which cites Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak call for an attack against Iran this fall, over the objections of U.S. and Israeli military commanders.
Two analysts of Yedioth Ahronoth, Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, note that an attack against Iran this fall is not supported by any other state, not even by the president of Israel.
According to sources quoted, Netanyahu and Barak think that blocking Iran’s nuclear program is worth any risk, while the Israeli military experts have warned that such a major operation is very risky. Israeli political leaders fear is that the Obama administration will fail to block the actions of Iran for the purpose of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
U.S. President Barack Obama received Thursday a new intelligence report confirming that Iran has made rapid and significant progress for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. According to CBS, the U.S. report would be a confirmation of Israeli intelligence estimates, which argue that Iran is approaching the capacity to manufacture nuclear weapons. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed in an article published in Haaretz newspaper that Barack Obama received a new “assessment” from the American intelligence services “which shares with Israel the assumption that Iran has made surprising and significant progress in its effort to manufacture nuclear weapons.”
Last week, Ephraim Halevy, former head of Israeli foreign intelligence service (Mossad), was suggesting that Israel would attack Iranian nuclear facilities in the next 12 weeks. “If I were Iranian, I would very much afraid in the next 12 weeks,” Halevy said for the New York Times.
Obama administration pressures on Israel not to launch air raids against Iranian nuclear facilities, as Washington is arguing that the economic sanctions imposed to the regime in Tehran are paying off, slowing down the nuclear program.
Israel insists that Iran, an enemy of the Jewish state, has made steady progress in the project of nuclear weapons production. United States share concerns that Iran is trying to acquire atomic weapons, but U.S. intelligence appreciated so far that the Islamic regime will need several years to acquire the necessary technology to manufacture nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
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