[RarensussyRen]

Israel says attack on Iran likely November 6, 2011 - 1:14PM
.AFP

Israeli President Shimon Peres says an attack on Iran by Israel and other countries is "more and more likely".

Israeli media are reporting Peres told Israeli private television's second channel late on Saturday: "The intelligence services of the different countries that are keeping an eye on (Iran) are worried and putting pressure on their leaders to warn that Iran is ready to obtain the nuclear weapon.

"We must turn to these countries to ensure that they keep their commitments ... this must be done, and there is a long list of options."

Advertisement: Story continues below Israel on Thursday completed a major civil defence drill in the Tel Aviv region aimed at simulating a response to conventional and non-conventional missile attacks, the military said.

Israel has also successfully tested what local media called a "ballistic missile", which a defence ministry official described to AFP as a long-scheduled "test firing of the rocket-propulsion system".

On Wednesday, Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak were seeking to win cabinet support for a strike on Iran, which Israel and the West suspect is looking to build an atomic bomb.

On the same day, Israel tested a rocket-propulsion system that press reports said was capable of firing ballistic missiles, although officials declined to comment on the specifics of the system and said it was a routine test.

A poll published by the Haaretz daily on Thursday found Israeli public opinion divided on a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, with 41 per cent in favour, 39 per cent opposed and 20 per cent undecided.

Iran, meanwhile, declared it would "punish" Israel in case of an attack on its territory.

© 2011 AFP

[RarensussyRen]

'Israeli attack will unleash Iran's wrath'


Top Iranian lawmaker warns strike against Islamic Republic would lead to 'crushing' blow to Israel. Iranian blogger: Regime insane, don’t attack
Dudi Cohen Published: 11.06.11, 00:39 / Israel News

Hossein Ebrahimi, a senior member of the Tehran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, warned Saturday that Iran's response to a possible attack by Israel will be "crushing."

"Before (being able to take) any action against Iran, the Israelis will feel our wrath in Tel Aviv," he told the State-run IRNA news agency.


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Ebrahimi noted that "since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, the US, UK and Israel have frequently threatened Iran… This is not a new development."
Iran, he added, assessed Israel's military capabilities during the Second Lebanon War, "and found it to be weak."

"The Israelis entered the (Lebanon) war with the capabilities they had but earned nothing but humiliation," Ebrahimi said. "I do not think that Israelis along with the Americans and Britons will commit such a folly."
"If the threat is carried out they will see the political might of the (Islamic) establishment, the solidarity of the Iranian nation, and the strength of the country," he added.



Blogger: Regime insane


"The Iranian regime is insane," a Tehran-based blogger told Ynet on Saturday.
Hamid (alias) said that Israel should, nevertheless, take the threats uttered by the Islamic Republic's leaders seriously: "We are used to such threats... The Iranian people are not afraid – they have no reason to be. We know that if the Revolutionary Guards sense any real threat, they will launch world war three. Israel knows better than to want that."

Hamid said that in the event of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Tehran's army will immediately launch rockets at Israel, while its navy will attack US navy ships in the Persian Gulf.





The regime, he added, may also choose to fire rockets at Iraq, Afghanistan and even Europe. "The regime is insane – tell Mr. Netanyahu not to attack."
Hamid ventured that any attack would only boost the Iranian people's support of the ayatollah's regime – which already enjoys a 70% approval rate.

Iran, he concluded, "should pursue nuclear technology only in order to be perceived as a (nuclear) power in the eyes of the West."



News agencies contributed to this report