Sabre-rattling grows louder
Iran's missile test increases tension with US and Israel
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The sabre-rattling over Iran's nuclear programme grew louder yesterday.
As Tehran claimed to have conducted missile tests for a second day running, the US warned it would defend its interests and its allies in the region, and Israel hinted it was ready to stage a preventive attack to destroy Iranian nuclear installations.
The tests, including the launch of the 1,250-mile range Shahab-3 missile that can hit Israel, should be "a lesson to our enemies", the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying.
Pentagon officials told CNN that surveillance suggested only a single missile was fired yesterday, apparently one that failed to launch on Wednesday.
The show of strength drew an unprecedented blunt response from Washington and Israel.
No one should doubt US resolve, said Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, on a visit to Georgia. "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies."
More ominously, Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, noted pointedly that while diplomatic pressure remained the preferred way of persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment, Israel "has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake".
Israel put on display one of its state-of-the-art Eitam spy aircraft, whose intelligence-gathering abilities would be vital in any co-ordinated assault on Iran's nuclear installations.
Rehearsal
This latest publicity only reinforces the message sent by Israel's recent military air exercises over the eastern Mediterranean, widely seen as a dress rehearsal for such an attack.
Most analysts believe that a pre-emptive attack, by the US at least, is unlikely.
"Everyone recognises what the consequences of a conflict would be," Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned, among them possible closure of the oil lifeline through the Strait of Hormuz, the risk of generalised war in the Middle East, and immense new strains on the fragile global economy.
Pentagon commanders too do not want to plunge the country's overstretched armed forces into another war. An attack would be "extremely stressful" for US forces, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the country's top uniformed officer, warned a few days ago. If the Bush administration is to strike, it probably has to do so before the general election campaign moves into high gear this autumn.
The possibility, many would say likelihood, that the next President will be the Democrat, Barack Obama, who favours negotiation with Iran, heightens the urgency for anti-Iran hawks. (© Independent News Service)
- Rupert Cornwell in Washington
