Thursday, October 15, 2009

Israel may attack Iran after December - Le Canard Enchaine

DEBKAfile Special Report
October 15, 2009, 7:03 PM (GMT+02:00)

Hillary Clinton's bid for Russia to back sanctions is snubbed
According to an unconfirmed report in the French Le Canard Enchaine of Wednesday, Oct. 14, Israel is preparing to bomb Iranian nuclear sites and pro-Iranian targets across the Middle East after December 2009. The prestigious satirical weekly reports that the IDF has notified special forces reservists abroad to get ready to return home in November for immediate drafting to the military operation against Iranian nuclear facilities. The weekly further reports Israel has ordered combat rations from a French firm for these reservists to stay on long-term missions far from home.
French military sources said that Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi met secretly in France with US armed forces Chief of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and French Chief of Staff Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, to inform that Israel planned to attack Iran after December, when it became clear that the talks between the six powers and Tehran had failed to produce any benefit.
According to Le Canard Enchaine, Ashkenazi said Israel would not attack Iran by air but rather use ground forces in coordinated operations on several Middle East fronts.
DEBKAfile's military sources add that if the information leaked to the newspaper from French joint staffs sources is correct - and not a red herring to disguise the impending attack's real nature - the IDF may be expected to branch out from Iran's nuclear facilities to target its allies too, such as Syrian air force and missile batteries, Hizballah bases in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Le Canard Enchaine is not alone in predicting an Israeli attack on Iran after December. A former Israeli deputy defense minister, Efraim Sneh, commented to US and British media several times in the past week that if the US fails to rally fellow powers' support for toughened sanctions against Iran by Christmas, Israel will have to attack its nuclear installations. It may be assumed that Sneh was not just guessing on his own initiative.
Another sign of the growing military tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear program was a phone conversation late Wednesday night between President Barack Obama and French President Nicola Sarkozy. The two discussed Iran. After Hillary Clinton failed to swing Russian leaders round to supporting sanctions, when she visited Moscow Tuesday, DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that Obama has decided to work with the French president for efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program.

1 comment:

  1. May Iran be well prepared to the attack and launch it missile to the middle of Tel Aviv ! And soon the world is going to be better without Israel.

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