November 17, 2007
BRITISH PRESS ALERT:
WAR WITH IRAN IMMINENT!
U.S. FIFTH FLEET IN GULF EXERCISE FOR POSSIBLE
WAR IN IRAN
Nov. 5, 2007 (The World Tribune)
ABU DHABI — The U.S. Navy launched a series of exercises in the Gulf to enhance skills required in any war with Iran which, according to British press reports, could occur in early 2008.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet conducted a crisis response exercise that included amphibious, air and medical forces. The five-day exercise by the USS Wasp, led by Commander Task Force 59, was scheduled to end on Nov. 5.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet has been operating two strike groups in the Gulf. The USS Enterprise and USS Kearsarge have also been training in the region.
Britain
plans to send an aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, to the region in
early 2008. Illustrious would be accompanied by the Type 42 destroyer
HMS Edinburgh and the Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster.
A British Defense Ministry spokesman said the Royal Navy deployment was not linked to the emerging Western crisis with Iran. But the London-based Daily Telegraph asserted that the ships might be preparing for war with Teheran in the first half of 2008.
"The purpose of the exercise is to continually improve the Fifth Fleet skills in completing complex missions that require capabilities broader than one ship or unit," U.S. Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff said. "Naval forces deployed here contribute to building stronger relationships that in turn help underwrite security and stability."
Officials said the exercise would evaluate the capability of the USS Wasp to respond to oil spills or damage to a coalition ship in the Gulf. Under the scenario, the Wasp, an assault vessel, would rush personnel and supplies to a targeted area within 72 hours.
"The scenario is challenging but prepares us for a real-world event," CTF planning officer Cmdr. Jay Chambers said.
"From the table-top discussions, which drew up plans for how our forces will assist, to turning those plans into action, this exercise allowed us to examine the best way to proceed, and to proceed quickly, with providing assistance to any requesting nation."
The U.S. Navy also said it would deploy the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the Middle East. The navy said the Truman would be accompanied by the guided missile destroyers Oscar Austin and Winston S. Churchill as well as the guided missile cruiser San Jacinto and the submarine Montpelier.
Britain and Canada would also join the U.S. strike group, the navy said.
"Observers believe that the spring is the last possible moment for President George W Bush to order military strikes against Iran's nuclear program," the Telegraph said. "The imminence of America’s presidential election may make it impossible for Washington to carry out an attack any later."
US fears Israeli strike against Iran over latest nuclear claim
From The Times
November 8, 2007
Tom Baldwin in Washington, James Hider in Jerusalem and Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor
Read Across the Pond: our US elections blog
A claim by President Ahmadinejad that Iran has 3,000 working uranium-enriching centrifuges sent a tremor across the world yesterday amid fears that Israel would respond by bombing the country’s nuclear facilities.
Military sources in Washington said that the existence of such a large number could be a “tipping point”, triggering an Israeli air strike. The Pentagon is reluctant to take military action against Iran, but officials say that Israel is a “different matter”. Amid the international uproar, British MPs who were to have toured the nuclear facility were backing out of their Iran trip.
Even before President Ahmadinejad’s announcement, a US defense official told The Times yesterday: “ Israel could do something when they get to around 3,000 working centrifuges. The Pentagon is minded to wait a little longer.” US experts say 3,000 machines running for long periods could make enough enriched uranium for an atomic bomb within a year.
Israel responded by serving notice that it would not tolerate a nuclear Iran. “Talks never did, and never will, stop rockets,” said Ehud Barak, the Defense Minister, after talks with the security cabinet.
The US and Western allies believe that Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover for weapon development. Tehran says that it merely wants to generate electricity.
Concern about Israel ’s intentions has been heightened by its recent air strike on a suspected nuclear plant in Syria . In 1981 Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi nuclear reactor, and as the sole — if undeclared — nuclear power in the region, it now considers Iran the most serious threat to its security. Mr. Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”.
Efraim Inbar, of the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv, said that the figure of 3,000 centrifuges would signal the ability of Israel’s arch-foe to produce the nuclear material needed for a warhead. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we do something if the international community leaves us alone,” he said. “I think we [Israel] are preparing for it. For Israel this is a critical technological moment.”
Tehran says it plans to expand its enrichment program to up to 54,000 centrifuges at Natanz in central Iran, which would amount to industrial-scale uranium enrichment.
Mr Ahmadinejad, speaking yesterday at a rally, said that UN sanctions had failed to halt uranium enrichment. “The world must know that this nation will not give up one iota of its nuclear rights . . . if they think they can get concessions from this nation, they are badly mistaken,” he said. He has in the past claimed that Iran succeeded in installing the 3,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment facility but yesterday’s speech was the first time he had said all of them were now operational.
The International Atomic Energy Authority recently put the figure at closer to 2,000, with another 650 being tested. The IAEA said yesterday: “We will be publishing a report next week. We will not make any comment about this until then.” Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, is shortly to report on Iran’s willingness to give up uranium enrichment in exchange for political and trade incentives.
In London, at least five members of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee were refusing to take part in the planned trip to Iran, arguing that it would hand the regime a propaganda coup. The visit, to begin on Sunday, would be the first by a select committee since 15 British Service personnel were held in March. That incident and evidence that the regime is supporting insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq and planning to build a nuclear bomb has strained relations with Britain.
About eight MPs, from all three main parties, are still planning to spend four days in Iran next week. Eric Illsley, a Labour MP who is one of those to have pulled out, said: “I really don’t fancy having pictures of me next to an Iranian nuclear facility beamed around the world.”
— Intelligence agencies have begun to vet all foreign postgraduates applying to study sensitive scientific subjects in Britain. The aim is to prevent Iranian students getting expertise in fields related to producing weapons of mass destruction. Sixty Iranians have been refused university places this year.