A strike on Iran’s nuclear sites would spark a 30-day war with missile attacks on Israel's cities and as many as 500 dead, according to the Israeli minister responsible for preparing home defences.
Israeli school children wear gas masks
during a drill organized by the Israeli Home Front Command simulating a
chemical missile attack Photo: AP
Matan Vilnai, who is stepping down as home front defence minister to become
ambassador to China, said the country was “ready as never before”.
“The assessments are for a war that will last 30 days on a number of fronts,”
he told the Maariv newspaper.
“It could be that there will be less fatalities, but it could be there will be
more, that is the scenario that we are preparing for according to the best
experts.”
Speculation is growing that Israel
is planning a unilateral attack on Iran’s
nuclear programme - or that it is using the question to increase pressure on
Barack Obama to launch an American strike.
Israel is convinced that archenemy Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons,
dismissing Tehran's claims that its nuclear programme is for civilian
purposes. Israel considers nuclear-armed Iran to be a mortal danger. Iran
backs anti-Israel militants with funds and weapons, and its leaders often
call for Israel's destruction.
In his latest pronouncement, Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said Israel
will disappear from "the scene of geography." Addressing war
veterans in Tehran on Wednesday, he said Iran considers it its "religious
duty to save this Islamic country (Palestine) from the clutches of the
Zionist occupiers."
Israel's leaders have indicated an attack is a possibility if they conclude the international community has failed to halt the Iranian nuclear program.
Mr Vilnai did not elaborate on how he reached his assessments, but his office relies on intelligence and other assessments about Iranian weapons capabilities and Israeli susceptibility. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has also said the Israeli death toll could be in the range of 500 in such a conflict.
"Just as the citizens of Japan have to realise that they can have earthquakes, so the citizens of Israel have to realise that if they live here, they have to be prepared to expect missiles on the home front," Vilnai said. "It's not pleasant for the home front, but decisions have to be made, and we have to be ready."
At a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, reaffirmed the US assessment that Israel has not yet decided whether to strike, while the US military chief, Gen. Martin Dempsey, echoed a widely held assessment that an Israeli operation would only set back, not destroy, Iran's nuclear project.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9478044/Israeli-minister-warns-of-30-day-war-with-Iran.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9478044/Israeli-minister-warns-of-30-day-war-with-Iran.html
Israel's leaders have indicated an attack is a possibility if they conclude the international community has failed to halt the Iranian nuclear program.
Mr Vilnai did not elaborate on how he reached his assessments, but his office relies on intelligence and other assessments about Iranian weapons capabilities and Israeli susceptibility. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has also said the Israeli death toll could be in the range of 500 in such a conflict.
"Just as the citizens of Japan have to realise that they can have earthquakes, so the citizens of Israel have to realise that if they live here, they have to be prepared to expect missiles on the home front," Vilnai said. "It's not pleasant for the home front, but decisions have to be made, and we have to be ready."
At a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, reaffirmed the US assessment that Israel has not yet decided whether to strike, while the US military chief, Gen. Martin Dempsey, echoed a widely held assessment that an Israeli operation would only set back, not destroy, Iran's nuclear project.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9478044/Israeli-minister-warns-of-30-day-war-with-Iran.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9478044/Israeli-minister-warns-of-30-day-war-with-Iran.html
No comments:
Post a Comment