Palestine
State Dept. denies report Israel likely to attack Iran this year
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Jul 1, 2008, 14:03

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday criticized reported comments by a senior U.S. defense official who said there was an increasing likelihood Israel would attack Iran over its nuclear program, calling his statements "foolish."

The unidentified defense official told ABC News that it was increasingly likely Israel would attack Iran, and that Washington was concerned Iran would strike both the United States and Israel in retaliation.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in response to the report: "I have no information that would substantiate that, and I think it's rather foolish of people who often have no clue what they're talking about to assert things and not even have the courtesy to do so on the basis of their name."

Meanwhile Tuesday, an Israeli official said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert secretly visited the site of Israel's main nuclear reactor, against the backdrop of speculation that Israel may soon attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

The official would not say what the purpose of Olmert's visit was.

Earlier Tuesday, ABC News quoted a U.S. defense official as saying that two "red lines" would prompt Israel to strike Iran. The first trigger would be once enough highly enriched uranium is produced at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility to create a nuclear bomb, which U.S. and Israeli assessments predict to occur will the end of this year or next.

"The red line is not when they get to that point, but before they get to that point," the official was quoted as saying. "We are in the window of vulnerability."

The second trigger, according to the official, would be linked to Iran's acquisition of the SA-20 air defense system it is purchasing from Russia.

The official said Israel may be likely to attack Iran before the system is put into place and Tehran's deterrence bolstered.


Washington is also concerned that Israel may carry out an attack before the next U.S. president is sworn in, according to the report.

The Israel Air Force carried out a mass drill over the Mediterranean last month, reported in the New York Times as a rehearsal for a possible attack on Iran.

A senior American defense official called the exercise "not a rehearsal, but basic, fundamental training" required for operation against Iran, ABC reported.

"The Israeli air force has already conducted the basic exercise necessary to tell their senior leadership, 'We have the fundamentals down.' Might they need some more training and rehearsals? Yes. But have they done the fundamentals? I think that is what we saw," the official told ABC News.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/997920.html