US think tank warns against attacking Iran’s nuke facilities
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—A surgical strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities similar to that which Israel carried out to destroy Iraq’s Osirak reactor in June 1981, or Syria’s reactor in 2007, is “not possible,” according to a report released today by the Institute for Science and International Security [ISIS].
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, August 08, 2008
THINK TANK – NUKE – WARNING
17:39GMT—1:39PM/EST
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—A surgical strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities similar to that which Israel carried out to destroy Iraq’s Osirak reactor in June 1981, or Syria’s reactor in 2007, is “not possible,” according to a report released today by the Institute for Science and International Security [ISIS].
A surgical strike strategy “fails to account for the dispersed, relatively advanced, and hardened nature of Iran’s gas centrifuge facilities,” the reports says, adding that even a large-scale airstrike on Iran’s main nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan may spur Iran towards acquiring a nuclear weapon more quickly.
The report by the Washington-based think-tank, entitled “Can military strikes destroy Iran’s gas centrifuge program? Probably not,” further asserts that gaps between US and other intelligence sources would make it difficult to determine targets for potential airstrikes adding that the UN’s limited knowledge of where Iran produces its centrifuges further complicate matters.
The authors, David Albright, Paul Brannan and Jacqueline Shire, state that the Islamic Republic suspended its voluntary adherence to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol in 2006, restricting UN inspectors’ access to Iran’s nuclear facilities. Also that year, Iran restarted its uranium enrichment program, which the world’s six major powers fear it may use to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is aimed at producing electricity for civilian use, has defied UN demands to halt its enrichment program. The United States and Israel in return have refused to rule out military operations against Iran as a last resort to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
Israel carried out a large-scale military exercise over the Mediterranean in June, which some officials in Washington said was meant as a warning to Iran. But today’s ISIS report cites officials who attended a recent US-Israel meeting on Iran as saying that US commanders were “unconvinced that the Israelis have enough intelligence on where to strike, and with little confidence that they will be able to destroy the nuclear program.”
Source: Institute for Science and International Security website
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