Word: striking
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...limited by Iran's political structure, in which ultimate authority over matters of state rests with the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei. The regime has threatened to retaliate against American interests "in every part of the world" if the U.S. were ever to launch a military strike against Iran. But Ahmadinejad has also made rhetorical gestures of conciliation, sending an open letter to George W. Bush and inviting the U.S. President to a televised discussion about "the ways of solving the problems of the international community." (Bush ruled it out last week. "I'm not going to meet...
...Israeli attack on Iran is fraught with as many potential pitfalls as an American strike would be. Seth Jones, a Middle East analyst for RAND, has extensively studied possible Israeli military operations against Iran and none of them leave him particularly sanguine. Israel does have conventional missiles it could launch from land or from ships and diesel-powered submarines, but their capabilities would be limited for this type of mission in terms of range and accuracy. The most likely weapons Israel would use, Jones believes, would be its American-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes that have "long-range...
...strikes, however, would also be difficult to carry out, since reaching the targets would be a problem for the warplanes. Israel does have aerial tankers, which would be needed to fuel the jets for the long flight to Iran and back, and its F-15s and F-16s have been conducting a lot of refueling training. For the most direct route to Iran, Israel would have to sneak its planes across Jordan and obtain fly-over rights through Iraq from patrolling U.S. jets. That means Israel would likely have to get if not Washington's approval for a strike, then...
...Israel has done "serious" contingency planning for a strike on Iran. Its air force, according to Jones, has conducted a number of training exercises useful for an Iran strike, such as simulated long-range air attacks. Jones says there are also signs that Israel has stepped up its collection of electronic intelligence in the Persian Gulf and against Arab countries that its jets might have to pass over for an attack. But how serious Israel is about actually carrying out a strike "is a separate story," he says. "I think the likelihood at the moment is pretty...
...easy to see why. In the event of an Israeli attack, Iran would surely retaliate, perhaps striking Israel with the conventionally armed missiles currently in its arsenal or goading Hizballah to unleash another round of terror attacks. Arab reaction to an Israeli air strike would also be grave for both Tel Aviv and Washington. "Even if the Israelis didn't get a yellow light from the U.S. and they decided they had to strike on their own, it would be viewed among all major Arab capitals as at least supported by the United States," Jones says. A Sept. 11 report...