Israel: Air strike on Iran will succeed

An Israeli plane refueling an F-16

A former senior Israeli general claims the regime is capable of carrying out a 'successful' air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"We could do it today," said Isaac Ben-Israel, a former air force general, in an interview with Der Spiegel published Saturday.

Ben-Israel added that the only factor stopping Tel Aviv from launching the strike was the prospect of stopping Iran's nuclear program through other means.

Washington, Tel Aviv and their European allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and demand the country abandon its uranium enrichment.

Iran, however, insists its nuclear activities are aimed at providing fuel for its under-construction power plants.

Meanwhile, the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran concluded after some 240 inspections of the country's nuclear sites that there is no link between the use of nuclear material and the alleged studies of weaponization.

"Only once the critical point has been reached will we choose the final option," continued the former general, who is currently a member of the Israeli parliament from prime minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party.

Ben-Israel, who reportedly helped plan the 1981 air raid on Iraq's 'nuclear reactor, said that hitting Iran's scattered nuclear facilities would be 'more difficult'.

He also acknowledged that the Israeli air force had recently conducted a maneuver over the Mediterranean to simulate a raid on Iran.

"It was not the first such exercise, and it won't be the last," Ben-Israel said.

A recent New York Times report quoted Pentagon officials as saying that Israel orchestrated a military maneuver in early June as a rehearsal for a potential strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

Pundits believe the military charade to have been less a dry run for an attack on Iran than a message that Tehran must curb its nuclear plans. Iran rejected the report as 'psychological warfare' but warned that any attack on the country would trigger a 'devastating response'.

IRGC commander Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari warned Saturday that Israel is within 'the range of Iran's missiles' and that the regime despite all its abilities would not be able to confront the Islamic Republic.

'Israel within Iran's missile reach'

Top IRGC commander, Mohammad-Ali Jafari

A senior IRGC commander says Israel will not dare attack Iran as it is well within the range of the Islamic Republic's missiles.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's defense capabilities today, in particular its missile power, enable it to repel any possible attack," Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari cautioned.

"Israel is located entirely within the reach of our missiles. Our missile power is such that the Zionist regime, despite all its capabilities, would not be able to confront us," the top IRGC commander told the Iranian daily, Jam-e Jam, in an interview.

Maj. Gen. Jafari also argued that the United States and Israel would have to collaborate in order to engage in a military strike against Iran.

"It seems without the cooperation of the occupying regime of al-Quds, rhetoric cannot turn into action. Even though the US may believe it can unilaterally attack Iran, the US needs Israeli assistance," he added.

"This fact would be a deterrent factor for our enemy given the numerous vulnerabilities of the Zionist regime," Jafari continued.

"When a country comes under attack, it naturally uses all its capacities to confront the enemy," he said in reference to the country's ability to cut the stream of oil by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

"In case of an attack… oil prices will dramatically increase and this prevents the enemy from inching toward a military action against Iran," the IRGC commander continued.

The US and Israel have recently stepped up their rhetoric against Iran and are believed to be preparing the public for a war against the oil-rich country.

Maj. Gen. Jafari's remarks come after the recent release of a New York Times report quoting Pentagon officials as saying that over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged a maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece between May 28 and June 12.

As part of the maneuver, Israeli jets flew over 900 miles, roughly the distance from their airfields to a nuclear enrichment facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz.

On June 6, a day after the military exercise, Israeli deputy prime minister Shaoul Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot that Tel Aviv would attack Iran if the country did not halt its nuclear activities.