Region | Iran
Israel prepared to strike Iran
Israel's defence minister hinted on Thursday that Israel was ready to attack Iran's nuclear programme.
- AP
- Published: 23:53 July 10, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- A modified business jet that could be key to any Israeli air strike on Iran went on display on Thursday ahead of its first exhibition at an international air show.
Occupied Jerusalem: Israel's defence minister hinted yesterday that Israel was ready to attack Iran's nuclear programme, saying it didn't balk before "when its vital security interests" were at stake.
"Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past that it doesn't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake," Ehud Barak told a meeting of his Labor Party, alluding to Israel's 1981 airstrike on an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. He, however, tempred the remarks by saying: "Currently, the focus is international sanctions and vigorous diplomatic activity, and these avenues should be exhausted."
The comments came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran that the US will not back down in the face of Iranian threats against Israel. Iran responded yesterday by test-firing more long-range missiles in a second day of war games. "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies," Rice said at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip.
Tel Aviv displays its eye in the sky
A modified business jetthat could be key to any Israeli air strike on Iran went on display yesterday ahead of its first exhibition at an international air show.
The Israeli Air Force has already taken delivery of three of the Gulfstream G550 business jets, converted by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and a subsidiary, ELTA, to function as Conformal Airborne Early Warning and Control planes.
Such planes, crammed with sophisticated electronic gear, provide intelligence and communications assistance to strike aircraft and would likely play a central role in directing any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations.
— Reuters
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