Iran Plans Counter Attack to Israel

TEHRAN — The deputy commander of Iran’s air force said today that plans have been drawn up to bomb Israel if the Jewish state attacks Iran, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.The announcement came amid rising tensions in the region with America calling for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program and Israeli planes having recently overflown, and perhaps even attacked, Iranian ally Syria.On Sunday, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the international community should prepare for the possibility of war in the event that Iran obtains atomic weapons, although he later appeared to soften that statement.“We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake,” General Mohammad Alavi was quoted as telling Fars in an interview.Mr. Fars confirmed the quotes, but would not provide a tape of the interview. The Iranian air force had no immediate comment.Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar told the official IRNA news agency today that “we keep various options open to respond to threats. … We will make use of them if required.”A White House press secretary, Dana Perino, called Mr. Alavi’s comment “unhelpful.”“It is not constructive and it almost seems provocative,” she said. “Israel doesn’t seek a war with its neighbors. And we all are seeking, under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, for Iran to comply with its obligations.”Iran has threatened in the past that Israel would be Iran’s first retaliatory target if attacked by America. But Mr. Alavi’s comments were the first word of specific contingency plans for striking back on Israel.Many in the region fear Israel could launch airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon.Mr. Alavi also warned that Israel was within Iran’s medium-range missiles and its fighter bombers, while maintaining that Israel was not strong enough to launch an aerial attack against Iran.“The whole territory of this regime is within the range of our missiles. Moreover, we can attack their territory with our fighter bombers as a response to any attack,” the general said.An upgraded version of Iran’s Shahab-3 missile has a range of 1,200 miles, capable of reaching Israel and carrying a nuclear warhead.Mr. Alavi said Iran’s radar bases were monitoring activities at the country’s borders around the clock and boasted that it had the capability to confront American cruise missiles.“One of the issues enemies make publicity about is their cruise missiles. Now, we possess the necessary systems to confront them (the cruise missiles),” Mr. Alavi was quoted as saying.In Ankara, Turkey, today, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called for U.N. Security Council members and American allies to help push for a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.Mr. Burns said Washington was “pursuing peaceful diplomacy,” and urged Iran to cooperate. However, he said the “responsibility lies with Iran to choose negotiations.”“We are going ahead to try to sanction Iran again, and we hope very much to have the support of Russia and China and the other countries in the council for that,” Mr. Burns said. “We have very strong support of France and Britain in this respect.”Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia yesterday signaled Moscow’s opposition to a third round of sanctions, and praised a recent agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at resolving outstanding issues.Secretary-General Ban urged Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, and the Security Council to settle the dispute, saying the U.N. wants a peaceful solution.Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade the country to suspend uranium enrichment. Tehran insists the program is aimed at producing energy for civilian use but America, its European allies and many others fear the program’s real aim is to produce nuclear weapons.Mr. Burns said he would host a meeting Friday with the participation of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council “to look at the elements of a third resolution.”Talks on a third U.N. resolution that would impose new sanctions on Iran were expected next week in New York, when world leaders will attend the annual ministerial session of the U.N. General Assembly.“All countries should do their best … to sanction Iran on their own according to their laws,” Mr. Burns said. “I think all of us believe that a diplomatic solution is preferable and the sanctions are a very important instrument.”On Sunday, Mr. Kouchner said France had appealed to major companies such as oil giant Total and gas giant Gaz de France not to bid for projects in Iran. He also said France and Germany were preparing possible European Union economic sanctions against Tehran beyond existing U.N. measures.“The whole trend is away from commercial engagement and toward sanctions whether that’s Security Council sanctions or individual sanctions,” Mr. Burns said.Mr. Burns said American allies and friends Turkey, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and India should consider similar actions.Mr. Burns noted that an energy deal signed between Iran and Turkey in July was not helpful. The preliminary deal foresees the construction of two separate pipelines to ship natural gas from Iran and neighboring Turkmenistan via Turkish territory.“We don’t think that it makes sense to announce long-term oil and gas deals at a time when Iran is going to have a nuclear weapons research,” Mr. Burns said. “But again we are not singling out Turkey for criticism or attention, this is a general U.S. and West European message to many other countries.”

Iran Plans Counter Attack to Israel

Iran Plans Counter Attack to Israel

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