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The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons industry due to an assessment that a US attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday. The report claimed that the Dutch operation had been "extremely successful," and had been stopped because the US military was planning to hit targets that were "connected with the Dutch espionage action." The impending air-strike on Iran was to be carried out by unmanned aircraft "within weeks," the report claimed, quoting "well placed"...

The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons industry due to an assessment that a US attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday. The report claimed that the Dutch operation had been "extremely successful," and had been stopped because the US military was planning to hit targets that were "connected with the Dutch espionage action." The impending air-strike on Iran was to be carried out by unmanned aircraft "within weeks," the report claimed, quoting "well placed"...

The Dutch intelligence service has pulled an agent out of an "ultra-secret operation" spying on Iran's military industry because spymasters in Netherlands believe a United States air attack was imminent. According to reports in the newspaper De Telegraaf, the country's intelligence service, the AIVD, has stopped an espionage operation aimed at infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in Iran. "The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iran," said the report. "Targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action." "Well placed" sources...

Saudi Columnist: Bomb Iran Now, Let Chips Fall Where They May In his August 4, 2008 column in the liberal Arab e-journal Elaph, Saudi columnist Saleh Al-Rashed argued that the Gulf states should urge the West to attack Iran before it acquires nuclear weapons. Following are excerpts from the column: [1] A Nuclear Iran is Like a Nuclear Bin Laden "'One cannot avoid the inevitable' - this adage came to mind when I read the pronouncement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad 'Ali Ja'fari, who said: 'My country is easily capable of closing the Straits of Hormuz, the...

----SNIP A Nuclear Iran is Like a Nuclear Bin Laden "'There's no avoiding what there's no avoiding' - this adage came to mind when I read the pronouncement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad 'Ali Ja'fari, who said: 'My country is easily capable of closing the Straits of Hormuz, the main passageway for oil freighters, if the country is attacked due to its nuclear program.' "In my estimation, confronting this country, which is trying to gain the time necessary to acquire nuclear weapons, is unavoidable. The possession of nuclear weapons by a state like Iran, which is ideological...

The American administration has rejected an Israeli request for military equipment and support that would improve Israel's ability to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran.

The Bush administration should stop talking about a military attack as an option if negotiations do not immediately halt Iran's uranium reprocessing program, two former national security advisers said yesterday. "Don't talk about 'do we bomb them now or later?' " said Brent Scowcroft, adviser to presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H.W. Bush, during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the negotiations between the United States and Iran. Scowcroft added that by mentioning that threat, "we legitimize the use of force . . . and may tempt the Israelis" to carry out such a...

Representative Ron Paul says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi removed a section from a bill passed by Congress which would have barred the U.S. from going to war with Iran without a congressional vote, claiming she did so at the behest of the leadership of Israel and AIPAC. Paul, a former Republican presidential contender who formally removed himself from the party’s nomination race last week, makes the allegation on C-SPAN during a recently held foreign policy conference in Virginia. Paul says Pelosi’s first act as House Speaker in 2006 was to “deliberately” remove a portion of a legislative spending bill which...

European Union foreign ministers say they will not support a military strike on Iran but want more talks to try to resolve worries Tehran might be developing nuclear weapons. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says it is now up to Iran to respond to global powers and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana after talks in Geneva on Saturday.

Israel will “almost surely” strike Iran’s nuclear sites in the coming months — and if the conventional attacks fail to destroy or at least delay Iran’s nuclear program, the Middle East will face a nuclear war. That’s the view of Benny Morris, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, who predicts either a subsequent pre-emptive Israeli nuclear strike or a nuclear exchange after Iran gets the bomb. “Should Israel’s conventional assault fail to significantly harm or stall the Iranian program, a ratcheting up of the Iranian-Israeli conflict to a nuclear level will most likely follow,” Morris, author...

It is difficult to imagine Israel attacking Iran. It is, however, more difficult to imagine Israel not attacking Iran. Consider three questions: First, does Iran mean what it says about destroying Israel? When its leaders repeatedly call for Israel's annihilation, after referring to it as a cancer and using other rhetoric not heard on a national level since the Nazi regime's depiction of Jews, is this just rhetorical flourish? Or do they really hope and plan to destroy Israel? Second, can Iran do it? One can hope and even plan to do something outrageous, but that does not necessarily mean...

Iran said on Friday it did not expect an attack from Israel or the United States triggered by the long-running dispute over its nuclear programme. "The possibility of such an attack (from Israel or the U.S.) is almost zero," Mottaki said, via a translator, in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV during a visit to Turkey. However, when asked whether it meant Iran was ready to freeze any expansion of its nuclear programme in return for the U.N. Security Council halting further sanctions measures against it, the source said "not at all".

MY greatest worry on Iran's nuclear threat to civilization isn't the military option. It's trying that option on the cheap. If there's any way to block Tehran's pursuit of nukes short of warfare, I'm all for it. Maybe yesterday's dispatch of the No. 3 US diplomat to observe the European Union's talks with the mullahs about their nukes will work a miracle (don't hold your breath). Military strikes must be the last resort. Even a successful attack would panic oil markets, interrupt supplies to an unknown degree and make enemies of the Iranian people for another generation. But the fanatics...

President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan opposes U.S. use of its territory for launching a possible attack against neighbouring Iran, President Hamid Karzai said in an interview broadcast on Monday. Iran has threatened to target Israel and U.S. interests in the region in the event of an attack against the Islamic Republic which is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme. Karzai said his government, which came to power after U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, had always tried to "keep the balance between the powers." "We are attentive to the dangers," Karzai told Radio...

The Sunday Times of London reported this weekend that "President George W. Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down." The Times report quoted a senior Pentagon official as its source. With increased resistance from the Pentagon and the November elections closing in, the White House may be choosing its next best option in dealing with Tehran: to have Israel launch strikes on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities. The paper said Bush has told Israel it has an "amber light" to proceed....

President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official. Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an "amber light" to an Israeli plan to attack Iran's main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times. "Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by...

US President George W. Bush has given Israel the "amber light" to carry out an attack on Iran if diplomatic efforts are unsuccessful in causing the Islamic Republic to back down and relinquish its nuclear program, according to a senior Pentagon official quoted by the British Sunday Times on Sunday morning. According to the official, Bush has given Israel free reign to attack Iran's nuclear sites if sanctions fail in spite of opposition from US generals and regardless of the possible economic and political repercussions of such a strike. "Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate...

PERSEPOLIS, once the capital of the Persian empire, and the massive mud-brick Bam citadel are among the nine listed World Heritage Sites in Iran. Yet leading archaeologists are urging colleagues to refuse any military requests to draw up a list of Iranian sites that should be exempted from air strikes. "Such advice would provide cultural credibility and respectability to the military action," said a resolution agreed by the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland, last week. Instead, delegates were advised to emphasise the harm that any military action would do to Iran's people and heritage.

In this edition: The Israel Air Force unveils a new squadron of warplanes said to be capable of striking Iran. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's lawyers say they need more time to cross examine key witness Morris Talansky. Iran test fires a new round of missiles as U.S. vows to defend its allies

Iran warned the United States and Israel on Saturday it would be "madness" to attack the Islamic Republic over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

The US vowed to defend Israel and its other allies in the Gulf, as Iran carried out its second ballistic missile test in two days yesterday. As the situation worsened in the Gulf, the French oil company Total said it would pull out of a large-scale investment in an Iranian gas field - a serious blow to Tehran, which is keen to exploit its gas reserves, and a victory for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to isolate the Iranian government. A spokesman for the company said it was too risky to invest in Iran at present. Oil prices...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would destroy Israel and 32 U.S. military bases in the Middle East if the Islamic Republic was attacked over its disputed nuclear programme, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday. "The U.S. knows full well that with the smallest move against Iran, Israel and 32 U.S. military bases in the region would not be out of the reach of our missiles and would be destroyed," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mojtaba Zolnour as saying. Zolnour is the deputy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

Israel 'Base' in Iraq July 12, 2008 New York Post Israeli warplanes have been flying over Iraq and landing at US bases there in preparation for an attack on Iran, Israeli media reported yesterday. Israeli defense ministry sources said that, for a month, the fighter jets have been practicing at night in Iraqi airspace.

Iraq denied on Friday reports claiming the Israeli Air Force has been practicing for a possible attack against Iran in its airspace. On Friday, sources in the Iraqi Defense Ministry told a local news network that Israel Air Force (IAF) war planes are practicing in Iraqi airspace and land on US airbases in the country as a preparation for a potential strike on Iran. The report, which was also carried by Iranian news outlets, claimed that recently massive IAF overnight presence was detected in several American held airbases. According to the sources, former military officers in the Anbar province said...

In a recent piece for the Washington Post, Israeli commentator Yossi Melman writes: “No decision to attack Iran has been made in Israel” and it is “a matter of at least one year” before any decision will be made. Melman’s words seem enough to convince the editorial staffs of publications like the Post and the Nation. But sources inside the U.S. intelligence and Defense communities are telling us, there is an increasing “probability” that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) will soon strike Iranian nuclear facilities. The strikes -- if they take place -- will be far more extensive than that...

The US did not give the green light for an Israeli attack on Iran, Prof. Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and currently the top defense analyst at the ABC TV network, said Monday. Cordesman was speaking during a meeting with Israeli defense analysts held by the Institute of National Security Studies. He said IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was notified of the United States' stance regarding Iran by Admiral Michael Mullen, the top uniformed US military officer, during Mullen's visit here at the end of June. The US has opted at this point to stick...

TEHRAN: Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "The first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down its vital interests around the globe," the students news agency ISNA quoted Ali Shirazi as saying in a speech to Revolutionary Guards. "The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday downplayed the threat of an attack on his country by the United States, saying it would be "political suicide" for US President George W. Bush. He also said that the Iranian people stood ready to defend their country in the event of any attempt to close down the nation's nuclear programme. "Any finger that will trigger the bullet, the Iranian people will cut it," he told a press conference at the D8 summit of developing nations.

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday discussed progress on a nuclear power plant Russia is building in Iran, a statement from Putin's office said. 'Both sides underlined the need for timely construction of the atomic power station at Bushehr,' the statement said. They also discussed cooperation in the transport and arms sectors, the statement said.

The US and Israel would not dare attack Iran, said Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an interview to Malaysian media on Monday. According to IRNA, the Iranian president arrived in Kuala Lumpur earlier in the day to attend the sixth Summit of the Eight Islamic Developing Countries (D8) where he is expected to deliver a speech on Tuesday.

A senior Israeli government official on Sunday responded to recent statements by American leaders regarding a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by saying they were representative of an intense debate at the White House over how to deal with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

TEHRAN (AFP) — The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has warned that any Israeli or US attack on its nuclear sites would mean the outbreak of war, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday. "Any action against Iran will be interpreted as the start of a war," General Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying late on Thursday. "Iran's response to any military action will make the aggressors regret their decision." The United States has never ruled out an eventual resort to force against Iran over its contested nuclear programme, which the West fears is cover for a...

The recent leaks to the U.S. news media (New York Times and ABC News) have created a wrong impression and sent a false message that an Israeli attack on Iran is imminent. Far from the truth. No decision to attack Iran has been made in Israel. Certainly no date has been fixed. Israel will decide, if at all, to disrupt Iran's nuclear program only as a last resort after international diplomacy fails. More importantly, such a decision will be taken only after serious consultation with the American administration. Coordinating its actions with America is the key factor in all Israeli...

TEHERAN - Iran reiterated that it would block the oil export route in the Persian Gulf if attacked, a Teheran newspaper reported Saturday. "It is understood that a country would use all possible options against an aggressor if militarily attacked. In that case, Iran would also intensify control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz," the commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards told Jam'e Jam daily. General Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned neighbouring countries not to take part in any military strike plans against Iran. The general made the statement in reference to reports that the United States and...

The past week's spate of signals that Israel might be preparing a strike against Iranian nuclear targets - an attack which would almost certainly provoke a wave of retaliation engulfing Hizbullah and Lebanon in regional conflict - amounts to nothing more than posturing to prod the West in negotiations with the Islamic Republic, a number of analysts told The Daily Star.

Of the Axis-of-Evil nations named in his State of the Union in 2002, President Bush has often said, "The United States will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." He failed with North Korea. Will he accept failure in Iran, though there is no hard evidence Iran has an active nuclear weapons program? William Kristol of The Weekly Standard said Sunday a U.S. attack on Iran after the election is more likely should Barack Obama win. Presumably, Bush would trust John McCain to keep Iran nuclear free. Yet, to start a...

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton believes Israel will stage a raid against Iran's nuclear facilities if Democratic nominee Barack Obama wins the upcoming presidential election in November. Bolton, often labeled a resolute neo-conservative, believes the Israeli attack would take place sometime between the day after Obama's win and his inauguration on January 20 of next year. In an interview with FOX News, Bolton says, "I think if they are to do anything, the most likely period is after our elections and before the inauguration of the next President." Bolton reasons Israel won’t be able to hold...

Bill Kristol and John Bolton, in separate interviews, seem to be leaking a Bush plan to take out Iranian nuclear facilities before he leaves office. If it is done before the election, Obama is sunk.

Israel 'will attack Iran' before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts By Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 9:18PM BST 23/06/2008 John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in. Bolton: 'the argument for military action is sooner rather than later' The Arab world would be "pleased" by Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "It [the reaction] will be positive privately. I think there'll be public denunciations...

All Predictions are good until December 31st, 2008: propositions, listed in order of probably outcomes: A) Date of an Israeli only strike. B) Date of a US only strike. C) Israel and the United States take no action by the 12-31-2008. D) Strike only after Iranian provocative action (list the action) - n.b. Lailat al Miraj in 2008 is on Tuesday, the 29th of July. E) Date of a combined strike.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamad ElBaradei, will quit his position in the event of a military strike on Iran, according to a Reuters report Friday. The report quoted him as warning that any military offensive in Iran would turn the Middle East region "into a fireball."

DUBAI (AFP) - The UN atomic watchdog chief warned on Saturday that an attack on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme would turn the region into a fireball, as Tehran rejected any Israeli strike as "impossible." Mohamed ElBaradei also warned that he would not be able to continue in his role as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general if the Islamic republic were attacked. His stark comments came as Iran stressed yet again that it will not negotiate with world powers over its nuclear programme if it is required to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment. "A military strike (against...

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Saturday said it considered an attack by arch-enemy Israel as "impossible" after US media reported military exercises by the Jewish state were a possible practice for a strike against Iran. Such impudence and audacity to have an aggression against our national interest and integrity is an impossible action," the Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.

The UN atomic watchdog chief on Saturday warned that an attack on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme would turn the region into a fireball, as Tehran rejected an Israeli strike as "impossible." ohamed ElBaradei also warned that he would not be able to continue in his role as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general should the Islamic republic be attacked. "A military strike (against Iran) would in my opinion be worse than anything else... It would transform the Middle East region into a ball of fire," ElBaradei said in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamad ElBaradei, will quit his position in the event of a military strike on Iran, according to a Reuters report Friday. IAEA's Director General Mohamed ElBaradei gives a statement to the press. Photo: AP [file] Slideshow: Pictures of the week The report quoted him as warning that any military offensive in Iran would turn the Middle East region "into a fireball." "I don't believe that what I see in Iran today is a current, grave and urgent danger. If a military strike is carried out against Iran at this time ... it would...

Periodically, Barack Obama tries to bolster his foreign policy and national security credentials by making statements along the lines of "all options are on the table" regarding Iran's nuclear efforts. This implies that one of those options would include military actions to disable its nuclear weapons research programs (such as surgical strikes similar to the successful Israeli attack on the Syrian/North Korean plant last year). This as a strategy actually makes diplomacy more viable since the Iranians would have to contemplate the consequences following the failure of diplomacy. However, Barack Obama explicitly rejected this military option in a discussion with...

As many as 100 F16 and F15 warplanes were involved in flying long-range missions as part of the operation While Israeli officials remained silent on the matter today, sources in Washington at the Pentagon and other US government agencies confirmed that the exercise was staged two weeks ago over the eastern Mediterranean. The target of the exercise was 900 miles from Israel, roughly the same distance as Iran's nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz. A Pentagon official told the New York Times the exercise was deliberately designed by Israel to send a clear signal about the seriousness of its intentions towards...

MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia's foreign minister Friday said there was no proof Iran is developing nuclear weapons and warned unilateral action against the country risked repeating the mistakes of the invasion of Iraq. "We have been repeatedly asking our American and Israeli colleagues, who insist that Iran...is engaged in making a nuclear bomb, to provide factual information to those assertions. So far we have seen none," Sergei Lavrov said in a speech in Moscow. "The same conclusion has been made by the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said. Responding to a warning earlier this month by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz...

WASHINGTON -- A large Israeli military exercise this month may have been aimed at showing Jerusalem's abilities to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. In a substantial show of force, Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean early this month, Pentagon officials said Friday. Israel's military refused to confirm or deny that the maneuvers were practice for a strike in Iran. Russia's foreign minister Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons with a program that Tehran says is for generating power....