Tensions rise over an Israel-Iran conflict

Tensions rise over an Israel-Iran conflict
by Staff Writers – Washington (UPI) – Nov 4, 2011

Anxiety is rising in world capitals over possible pre-emptive military strikes by Israel against Iran over the threat posed by Tehran’s nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, together with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, are said to be lobbying Cabinet members to agree to attacks on Iranian military facilities, Israeli news reports state.

Punctuating those reports was news that Israel recently tested a Jericho missile, said to be capable of striking Iran.

British media are reporting that the country’s Ministry of Defense has ordered services to draw up contingency plans for supporting possible U.S. military operations against Iran if Washington were to back up Tel Aviv in any such scenario.

Tehran, meanwhile, is warning that any “Zionist regimes attack against Iran would lead to heavy damages to the U.S. as well as to the Zionist regime.”

The saber rattling and hand-wringing coincides with the imminent release of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that apparently will give unprecedented detail on Iran’s nuclear program and new evidence suggesting Tehran, despite repeated denials, is attempting to produce nuclear weapons. …more