Iran's Nukes

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Israel has finalized plans and completed rehearsals for a first-strike against Iranian nuclear facilities before they come on-line.

Such a strike is likely if Russia supplies Iran with fuel rods for enriching uranium. The rods, currently stored at a Russian port, are expected to be delivered late next year after a dispute over financial terms is resolved.

An Israeli defense source in Tel Aviv, who confirmed that the military rehearsals had taken place, told the paper: "Israel will on no account permit Iranian reactors - especially the one being built in Bushehr with Russian help - to go critical."

Obviously this is reminiscent of the Israeli strike against the Iraq reactor in 1981. The differences, however, will be huge between Iran's potential reaction and Iraq's non-reaction. It is almost certain that if Israel destroys Iran's facilities, Iran will retaliate through the Hezbollah and the thousands of missiles that Iran gave them. At this point the only hopes of averting these events is if either Russia decides not to deliver the material, or if the mullahs are overthrown.