US Media: Israel Appears to Practice Iran Attack

Israel is reported to have carried out a large military exercise thatcould have been practice for an attack against Iran's nuclearfacilities. Officials in Israel have refused to confirm or deny thereport which appeared in The New York Times. Robert Berger reports fromthe VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

The New York Times reportedFriday that more than 100 Israeli F-15 and F-16 warplanes staged amaneuver over the Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June.The warplanes flew more than 1,400 kilometers, about the distancefrom Israel to Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. QuotingU.S. officials, the report said the exercise included refueling inmidair and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.

Accordingto The Times, the Israeli military would only say that the air force"regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meetthe challenges posed by the threats facing Israel."

Israel andthe United States believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons, thoughTehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The Iranianpresident has threatened to wipe the Jewish state "off the map," andthat has raised speculation about an Israeli pre-emptive strike onIran's nuclear facilities.

"It's a very plausible scenario,"said Israeli analyst Alon Pinkas. "And I would not rule a militarystrike against Iran, I would not rule it out."

The Israeli airforce destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. But that was just onesite, and Pinkas says the situation in Iran is much more complicated.

"Interms of the military capabilities, I think Israel is limited in itsability to hit and strike effectively the entire array of Iran'snuclear program, because it is defused, it is decentralized, it isclandestine and it is underground," he said.

The Times quotedan anonymous Pentagon official as saying that the purpose of theexercise was two-fold: to hone the air force's abilities and todemonstrate to the U.S. and others that Israel might take action on itsown if international sanctions against Iran fail.

It is seen as a last resort, but Israeli officials say there is a military option.