US plans for Iranian response to Israeli raid

Dubai: The United States has stepped up contingency planning in case Israel launches a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

According to the report, US defence officials are becoming increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to carry out such a strike. "Our concern is heightened," a senior US military official told the Journal. The US military is reportedly preparing for a range of responses to an Israeli strike on Iran, including attacks by pro-Iranian Shiite militias against the US Embassy in Iraq.

Iran said yesterday it has evidence that the US was behind the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week in Tehran. Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed on Wednesday in a blast involving his car in Tehran.