Speculation grows of raid on Iran's nuclear sites
Speculation is mounting that Admiral Michael Mullen, head of the US armed forces, will meet with Iraeli generals to discuss a possible assault on Iran's nuclear facilities. Photo: Jay Directo, Getty Images
The head of America's armed forces will make a hastily arranged visit to Israel this week, fuelling speculation about a possible Washington-sanctioned Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear programme.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, will use a rest day during a tour of Europe to meet Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, his Israeli opposite number, with the Iranian nuclear question at the top of the agenda.
Admiral Mullen last visited Israel in December -- the first visit from a US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in a decade.
Israel is America's closest military ally and relations between the two sides are very close. General Ashkenazi himself is due in Washington for an official visit within a month.
Attack
Israel would require tacit US military approval for an attack on Iran, because America controls the Iraqi airspace through which Israeli jets would likely pass if they mounted an assault.
News of Admiral Mullen's visit came after US sources said that Israel carried out a full rehearsal of an air assault on Iran's network of nuclear sites.
The target of the exercise, which was carried out in early June over the eastern Mediterranean, was 900 miles from Israel, roughly the same distance as Iran's nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz. As many as 100 F-16 and F-15 jets were involved.
The exercise came as US President George Bush and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, put pressure on Tehran, saying that a nuclear Iran was "unacceptable''. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
