Israel Prepared To Act On Iran for Firing Missiles
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Jerusalem — Israel’s defense minister warned Iran yesterday that his country was ready to act if threatened, as Tehran test fired another salvo of missiles capable of hitting the Jewish state.
Ehud Barak said that while military action was a last resort, his country had proved in the past that it would not hesitate when “its vital security interests are at stake.”
“Currently, the focus is international sanctions and vigorous diplomatic activity, and these avenues should be exhausted,” Mr. Barak said.
But he added: “Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake.”
The comments came after Iran conducted military exercises, launching a second round of ballistic missiles, including the Shahab 3, in as many days. With a range of 1,250 miles, the Shahab 3 can hit Israel. In response to Iran’s war games, Secretary of State Rice warned that America would not back down in the face of threats against Israel.
Closing a three-day European trip in Georgia, Ms. Rice said: “We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies.
“We take very, very strongly our obligations to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that,” she said. She linked the first round of the Iranian missile tests to American plans for a missile shield based in eastern Europe, which would theoretically offer protection against missiles launched from Iran.
Such a shield “will make it more difficult for Iran to threaten and … say terrible things, because their missiles won’t work,” Ms. Rice said. However, she conspicuously stopped short of issuing a direct threat to Tehran, and Defense Secretary Gates said on Wednesday that there had been a “lot of signalling going on” in the escalation of rhetoric but he added he did not think confrontation was any closer.
In Israel, the Iranian tests were received with dread. Fears have been raised that Iran will soon reach a point of no return in its quest for nuclear weapons. President Ahmadinejad of Iran has often called for Jews to be removed from Israel, though he recently dismissed the idea of an Iranian strike on the Jewish state.
