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US rejected aid for Israeli plan against Iran: report
US President George W. Bush rejected Israel's secret request last year for bunker bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran's nuclear plant, according to a newspaper report.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:05 January 12, 2009
New York: US President George W. Bush rejected Israel's secret request last year for bunker bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran's nuclear plant, according to a newspaper report.
The New York Times reported that Bush said he had authorised covert action to sabotage Tehran's suspected atomic weapons development. Israeli government officials declined to comment on the report.
A US official had said in September that the Pentagon had refused an Israeli request for unspecified "offensive" items that could be used on Iran.
To reassure the Israelis, Washington instead gave them advanced radars for spotting missile launches.
Details of the expanded US covert program and the Bush administration's efforts to talk Israel out of attacking Iran emerged from 15 months of interviews with current and former US officials, international nuclear inspectors, outside experts and European and Israeli officials, the New York Times said.
None of those interviewed would speak on the record, the paper said, adding it omitted many details of the covert efforts from its report at the request of senior US intelligence and administration officials.
It said the interviews also suggested "that while Mr. Bush was extensively briefed on options for an overt American attack on Iran's facilities, he never instructed the Pentagon to move beyond contingency planning, even during the final year of his presidency, contrary to what some critics have suggested."
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