Fallout fear puts deadline on nuclear sites attack
* Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem
* March 27, 2007
IRAN is several years away from nuclear capability but any plan for a pre-emptive attack on its nuclear sites may have to be implemented before the end of the year to avoid the danger of serious radiation fallout.
Sources cited by The Jerusalem Post say a US or Israeli strike on the Iranian facilities would probably be carried out before Iran had enriched weapons-grade material in sufficient amounts to trigger a nuclear catastrophe if hit.
Iran is believed to be attempting to produce a critical mass of enriched uranium before the end of the year. Any attack after that would risk triggering fallout that could kill civilians over large distances and make parts of Iran uninhabitable. (what BS... yeah, attack them with mini-nukes to minimize radiation!! great thinking, guys...)
The same consideration figured in the timing of Israel's attack on Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.
The Israeli cabinet decided then to approve the attack when it learned that a shipment of enriched uranium fuel rods was due to arrive at the new reactor south of Baghdad. An attack on the reactor once it became "live" would release massive radiation, experts had warned. It would turn the bombing into a nuclear attack, despite the use of conventional armaments.
Israeli warplanes demolished the Iraqi reactor before the rods could be installed.
In view of the possibility of an early strike against the Iranian facilities, several foreign embassies in Tehran are reportedly updating their emergency evacuation plans, including choosing alternate land routes out of the country.
Israeli officials welcomed Sunday's decision by the UN Security Council to impose tougher sanctions on Iran in an effort to persuade Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
The officials said earlier sanctions by the Security Council, though relatively mild, were already having an effect. They said influential voices were being heard in Tehran calling on the Government to avoid escalating the confrontation with the international community.
Iran announced yesterday that it would partially suspend co-operation with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency in response to the Security Council vote, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the latest sanctions would not halt the country's uranium enrichment "even for a second". Iranian state television quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying the additional sanctions "stem from the hostility by some powers against Iran".
"It is not a new issue for the Iranian nation. Enemies of the Iranian nation have made a mistake this time, too," he said.
The West strongly suspects that Iran's nuclear activities are aimed at producing weapons, though Tehran says they are exclusively for producing energy.
Additional reporting: AP
