Report Reveals U.S. Plans
For Iran Attack

www.aljazeera.com.

The U.S.’s contingency plans for attacking Iran extended beyond nuclear facilities to include most of the Islamic Republic’s military infrastructure, the BBC reported, quoting diplomatic sources.

Although the U.S. claims that it wants the Iranian nuclear standoff to be solved through diplomacy, it refuses to rule out military action if Tehran does not halt its nuclear activities.

It is understood that any such attack would target Iran’s air and naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centers.

Diplomatic sources told the BBC that senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran, including Tehran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, as well as the nuclear reactors at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr.
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 sources said.

Correspondents say the trigger for such an attack includes any confirmation that Iran is working on an atomic weapons program, which Tehran strongly denies.

Second U.S. aircraft carrier arrives near Iran

The United States has stepped up pressure on Tehran by sending a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf.

The USS John C. Stennis and its accompanying strike group joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Sea of Oman but hasn’t yet entered Gulf waters, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said Tuesday.

The Stennis "entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations... to conduct maritime security operations in regional waters, as well as to provide support for ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said a U.S. statement.

Iran has also been carrying out military exercises in the region, including test-firing missiles and building drones that Iranian military commanders said could hit the U.S. Navy.

On Tuesday, Iranian state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards staged a war game simulating an air strike against the Islamic republic.

The report said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards land forces fought back the hypothetical air strike from enemy helicopters, planes and missiles with 620 anti-aircraft cannon and shoulder missiles.

The exercise came during a three-day "Power Manoeuvre" exercises involving 3,000 units of the elite force in 16 of Iran's 30 provinces, the second war games staged by the Guards this month.

Another excuse for attacking Iran

President Bush’s recent criticism of Iran’s alleged support for the Iraqi resistance has raised fears that his administration is considering an attack.

Earlier this month, U.S. officers in Iraq claimed that they had evidence Iran was providing weapons to Shia fighters in Iraq.

However, the most senior U.S. military officer, Gen Peter Pace, later cast doubt on this, saying that they only had proof that weapons "made in Iran" were being used in Iraq.

Gen 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 U.S. allegations were “excuses to prolong the stay" of U.S. occupation forces in Iraq.

Some analysts believe that the U.S. is now trying to provoke Iran into an action Washington could use as an excuse for an attack.

Correspondents say the fact that there are now two U.S. excuses for a strike against Iran – the nuclear program and alleged attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq – is a concern for Iranian people.

Ahmadinejad seeks unconditional talks

On Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad said he is ready for nuclear talks but only if there are no pre-conditions by Western countries.

"They tell us 'come and negotiate on Iran's nuclear issue but the condition is to stop your activities',” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in northern Iran.

"We have said that we want negotiations and talks, but negotiations under just conditions,” he added.

The Iranian President also called on Western nations to stop their own nuclear enrichment programs if they want Iran to do the same.

Middle East analysts have recently warned of the catastrophic consequences for any military action against Iran.

A recent report by a coalition of British charities, faith groups and unions warned that any attack against Iran would be “highly dangerous” and “counter-productive”.

Sir Richard Dalton, the British ambassador to Iran until last year, also warned that “recourse to military action - other than in legitimate self-defense - is not only unlikely to work but would be a disaster for Iran, the region and quite possibly the world.”

Last December, the UN Security Council passed a resolution imposing limited trade sanctions against Iran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for power stations or, if greatly enriched, material for a nuclear bomb.

The Council also demanded Tehran to freeze its enrichment activities by February 21. If it does not, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms this in a report due to be released this week, the resolution states that further economic sanctions will be considered.

--AJP and agencies
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