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Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit. (Motti Kimche)
Last update - 16:27 29/06/2008
Former Israeli spymaster: We have year to hit Iran nukes
By Reuters and Haaretz Service

Israel must destroy Iran's nuclear program within the next 12 months or risk being attacked with an atomic bomb itself, the former head of the Mossad told the British Sunday Telegraph.

"As an intelligence officer working with the worst-case scenario, I can tell you we should be prepared," Shabtai Shavit, who served as Mossad chief from 1989 to 1996, told the British paper.

"We should do whatever necessary on the defensive side, on the offensive side, on the public opinion side for the West, in case sanctions don't work. What's left is a military action."
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"The time that is left to be ready is getting shorter all the time," Shavit told the Telegraph.

Shavit added that a victory by Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the November presidential election would significantly lower the chances that the U.S. would approve of military action against Iran.

"If [Republican candidate John] McCain gets elected, he could really easily make a decision to go for it," Shavit told the paper. "If it's Obama: no. My prediction is that he won't go for it, at least not in his first term in the White House."

Shavit told the Telegraph, however, that Israel would not hesitate to go it alone, with or without U.S. support.

"When it comes to decisions that have to do with our national security and our own survival, at best we may update the Americans that we are intending or planning or going to do something," Shavit told the paper. "It's not a precondition, [getting] an American agreement," he said.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday he did not believe Israel was in a position to attack the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

"They know full well what the consequences of such an act would be," Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told reporters.

Speculation about a possible attack on Iran because of its disputed nuclear ambitions has risen since a report this month said Israel had practiced such a strike, prompting increasingly tough talk of retaliation, if pushed, from Tehran.

Mottaki said Israel was still dealing with the consequences of its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and was also suffering a "crisis of deepening illegitimacy" in the Middle East region.

"That's why we do not see the Zionist regime in a situation in which they would want to engage in such an adventurism," he said when asked about the possibility of an Israeli attack.

U.S. reportedly escalating covert operations against Iran

Meanwhile, U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.

The article by reporter Seymour Hersh, from the magazine's July 7 and 14 issue, centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.

"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, andinvolved "working with opposition groups and passing money."

Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including an April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested regime change in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal.

Funding for the covert escalation, for which Bush requested up to $400 million, was approved by congressional leaders, according to the article, citing current and former military, intelligence and congressional sources.

Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. U.S. Special Operations Forces have been conducting crossborder operations from southern Iraq since last year, the article said.

These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of "high-value targets" in Bush's war on terrorism, who may be captured or killed, according to the article.

But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the Central Intelligence Agency, have now been significantly expanded, the article said, citing current and former officials.

Many of these activities are not specified in the new finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature, it said.

Among groups inside Iran benefiting from U.S. support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to former CIA officer Robert Baer. Council on Foreign Relations analyst Vali Nasr described it to Hersh as a vicious organization suspected of links to Al-Qieda.

The article said U.S. support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.

None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.

The United States is leading international efforts to rein in Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, although Washington concedes Iran has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian uses.


Iran: If Israel attacks us, we'll respond with missiles

Meanwhile, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that if his country is attacked, Tehran would strike back by barraging Israel with missiles and controlling a key oil passageway in the Persian Gulf, according to a state newspaper report published on Saturday.

The report in the conservative Jam-e-Jam comes after the disclosure of a recent Israeli military exercise over the Mediterranean Sea that was seen as sending a message to Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari told the Iranian paper that there were strong deterrents against striking Iran including the country's missile power, the vulnerability of Israeli and U.S. forces in the region and the low probability of a successful attack.

Iran has spread its nuclear facilities over various parts of the large country and has built key portions underground to protect if from possible Israeli or American airstrikes.

But Jafari warned that if attacked, Iran would strike back, including choking off the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow outlet for oil tankers leaving the Persian Gulf.

"Naturally, any country coming under attack will use all of its capacity and opportunities to confront the enemy. Given the main route for energy to exit the region, one of Iran's steps will definitely be to exercise control on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," Jafari told Jam-e-Jam, which is affiliated with Iran's state-run radio and television network.

In 2006, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also threatened to disrupt the world's oil supply if the United States attacked Iran. Iran is the world's fourth largest oil producer, and about 60 percent of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Should a confrontation erupt between us and the enemy, the scope will definitely reach the oil issue. ... Oil prices will dramatically increase. This is one of the factors deterring the enemy from taking military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jafari was quoted as saying.

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      2.   TRYING to destabilise Iraq,trainig Shiite martys at Al Quds base 07:57  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      3.   PeterSM. Who destabilized Iraq? 08:59  |  Maureen Ann 29/06/08
      4.   # 2 Aaw, shucks, you shouldn`t be too hard on US policies 09:11  |  Kris Lazar 29/06/08
      5.   Another Elliott Abrams Scheme? 09:36  |  Mark of Lewiston 29/06/08
      6.   Symour Hersch 09:43  |  NY reader 29/06/08
      7.   time for more forceful action 09:47  |  vik 29/06/08
      8.   Beginning of the end for iran and radical islam 09:47  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      9.   Ann 8 you`ve been watching too much Fox News. LOL 10:09  |  Michael 29/06/08
      10.   Let the iranian haters burn in radiation 10:45  |  Johnny 29/06/08
      11.   Bush pisses more US taxpayers` money against a wall 10:51  |  Clickfool 29/06/08
      12.   Disappointing news for the "Whack Iran Brigade" 10:55  |  Clickfool 29/06/08
      13.   If Iran wanted to attack Israel so bad why make the weapon 10:59  |  Tupac 29/06/08
      14.   Left wing nuts used to lionize saddam 11:05  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      15.   wrong if Iran supports "terrorists" but ok if US does? 11:07  |  raminPersianPride 29/06/08
      16.   Denise: See Iraq for details on nation building 11:07  |  Tupac 29/06/08
      17.   To Michael UK 11:10  |  Big Al 29/06/08
      18.   public opinion side for the West... our planet also has an East 11:21  |  Tupac 29/06/08
      19.   For Denis Thompson, on American Danegeld # 8 11:25  |  Clickfool 29/06/08
      20.   #9 michael in dreamland as ever 11:25  |  victor hardman 29/06/08
      21.   #8: The ape hasn`t invaded a nation on false WMD threat Duby has 11:26  |  Tupac 29/06/08
      22.   #3 Moron-ann Who destabilised you? 11:30  |  Ari ben Yisrael 29/06/08
      23.   Give It A Break! 11:35  |  Yosemite 29/06/08
      24.   truth is you both are terrorists 11:35  |  a_human 29/06/08
      25.   MAUREEN Re Iranian current destabilsation of Iraq read this. 11:38  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      26.   A 100% effective attack buys Israel a 4 year delay 11:40  |  Clickfool 29/06/08
      27.   The Iranian Information Minister. 12:12  |  Charles Smyth 29/06/08
      28.   Michael in UK 12:14  |  rich 29/06/08
      29.   Israel has less than a year 12:17  |  Jonathan S 29/06/08
      30.   To Big Al 12:20  |  Sevgi Akis 29/06/08
      31.   Shavit is a monumental idiot and a war monger of epic proportions 12:20  |  Johan Odin 29/06/08
      32.   #3 Moron-ann Who or What destabilised you? 12:28  |  Ari ben Yisrael 29/06/08
      33.   RE: Beginning of the end for iran and radical islam 12:33  |  Mohamed 29/06/08
      34.   The West`s ultimate goal 12:37  |  JonathanInTelAviv 29/06/08
      35.   Re: Time for more forceful action 12:37  |  Mohamed 29/06/08
      36.   LOL. You know you`ve struck gold when the talkback creeps 12:39  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      37.   TUPAC Iran attacked Britain twice on the high seas 12:40  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      38.   Iran will not continue to persue nuclear power after Israel 12:44  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      39.   ^_^ are you clowns serious 12:50  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      40.   An attack on Iran will be catastrophic not only for Iran and the 12:51  |  lakshmi 29/06/08
      41.   So the world has also 12 months to destroy Israel 12:58  |  Andreas 29/06/08
      42.   now THIS is really cute! a "former" mossad master spy dude... 13:12  |  eric 29/06/08
      43.   PETER SM 13:18  |  Imad 29/06/08
      44.   cultural norm of Israel? 13:22  |  shauna 29/06/08
      45.   Didn`t he say this three years ago 13:23  |  Mark Lincoln 29/06/08
      46.   Israel is dying for an excuse to nuke iran 13:28  |  Denise Thompson 29/06/08
      47.   Are you an Elephant? 13:42  |  Mark Lincoln 29/06/08
      48.   Iran is going down 13:44  |  Vitaly 29/06/08
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      50.   John Boulton issues orders to Israel 13:56  |  Mark Lincoln 29/06/08
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      52.   We still remember the lie "WMD in IRAQ" 14:32  |  Dav 29/06/08
      53.   We can?t afford to wait : Time has come for action. 15:05  |  Jean Van Daem 29/06/08
      54.   Mohammed, you are forgetful aren`t you 15:19  |  Allon 29/06/08
      55.   The good news clickfool 15:22  |  Ramius 29/06/08
      56.   #8. Denise Thompson. One of your best Posts. 15:23  |  Stephen. 29/06/08
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      58.   Imagine the world today if Israel did not blow Saddams nuclear 15:26  |  Dani Zvi Miller 29/06/08
      59.   Dav 15:28  |  Ramius 29/06/08
      60.   IMAD "Iran has one day" you are right. Day 2 only virgins 15:29  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      61.   Vitaly 15:36  |  Ramius 29/06/08
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