US 'Iran attack plans' revealed

[dantes76]

US 'Iran attack plans' revealed
US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country's military infrastructure, the BBC has learned.

It is understood that any such attack - if ordered - would target Iranian air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centres.

The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

The UN has urged Iran to stop the programme or face economic sanctions.

But diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran.

That list includes Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. Facilities at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr are also on the target list, the sources say.

Two triggers

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.

Alternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran.

Long range B2 stealth bombers would drop so-called "bunker-busting" bombs in an effort to penetrate the Natanz site, which is buried some 25m (27 yards) underground.

The BBC's Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says the news that there are now two possible triggers for an attack is a concern to Iranians.

Authorities insist there is no cause for alarm but ordinary people are now becoming a little worried, she says.

Deadline

Earlier this month US officers in Iraq said they had evidence Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi Shia militias. However the most senior US military officer later cast doubt on this, saying that they only had proof that weapons "made in Iran" were being used in Iraq.

Gen Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said he did not know that the Iranian government "clearly knows or is complicit" in this.

At the time, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the accusations were "excuses to prolong the stay" of US forces in Iraq.

Middle East analysts have recently voiced their fears of catastrophic consequences for any such US attack on Iran.

Britain's previous ambassador to Tehran, Sir Richard Dalton, told the BBC it would backfire badly by probably encouraging the Iranian government to develop a nuclear weapon in the long term.

Last year Iran resumed uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for power stations or, if greatly enriched, material for a nuclear bomb.

Tehran insists its programme is for civil use only, but Western countries suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The UN Security Council has called on Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium by 21 February.

If it does not, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms this, the resolution says that further economic sanctions will be considered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6376639.stm

[JackTheReaper]

umm però blair non è più dalla parte di bush... e siamo sicuri che israele sia disposto a subire attacchi missilistici iraniani? (quasi certi se gli USA attaccano)

più ci penso più la guerra mi sembra un'opzione lontana lontana lontana...

[Fil9998]

urge incidente diplomatico e/o terroristico per scatenare controffensiva o attacco preventivo,

sennò zio BUsh non riesce a giocare con gli aereoplanini ....

[sempreio]

le voci si fanno sempre più insistenti, forse non è un caso..

[Nevermind]

Beh c'è gente che ne parla dall'intervento in Afghanistan.

[jpjcssource]

Sembra che la settimana scorsa siano arrivate una nuova portaerei con il proprio gruppo di battaglia ed alcune dragamine (nel caso l'iran minasse Hormuz bloccando Bassora e quindi buona parte del petrolio proveniente dall'Irak).

Penso che comunque sia solo una precauzione in questi momenti di alta tensione, alla fine non succederà nulla

[Sehelaquiel]

stanno cercando di intimidire gli iraniani, imho.

[evelon]

E' solo un prova di forza.

Nei momenti di tensione le potenze mostrano i muscoli: l'iran passa armi e finanziamenti ai guerriglieri in Irak per mettere in difficoltà gli USA, questi rispondono sputtaandoli con le armi iraniane ritrovate e portando una forza aeronavale in zona.

L'invasione dell'iran è fuori luogo e lo sanno sia gli iraniani, sia gli americani.

Almadinejab è coperto da Cina e Russia e lo sà.

Certo è che se continua a tirare la corda non rischia un 'invasione via terra (impossibile in Iran).
Al massimo ci sarà qualche attacco mirato (probabilmente aereo) e/o qualche azione di commandos per sabotaggi ad impianti strategici.