Pentagon chief Leon Panetta termed “unacceptable” that the United States may coexist with Iran, which has atomic military technology, and reaffirmed that an attack on the Persian nation would delay the program for three years.
Panetta thus echoed similar remarks made by his predecessor, Robert Gates, and the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen.
According to CBS News, Panetta gave a joint press conference on Thursday with the current Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, and said it was “unacceptable that Tehran develops nuclear capacities. It is our hope that they do not reach that point.”
In the past few weeks, spokespersons for the Obama Administration are on a media campaign, trying to spread information that the Iranian authorities are developing atomic weapons to launch a military offensive against Israel.
Diplomatic wires revealed by WikiLeaks provide evidence on old Washington and Tel Avivâs plans to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
On November 2009, Israeli authorities told their U.S. counterparts that “2010 would be a crucial year, if Tehran continued protecting its nuclear program.”
“If we continue hearing calmly the argument that the plan is for peaceful purposes, then it would be more difficult to strike the targets later,” said a diplomatic spokesperson quoted by WikiLeaks.
According to the source, both parties even mulled over launching the special GBU-28 antibunker bomb of 2.26 tons against Iran, sold to Israel in 2005, which can be thrown from an F-151 plane.
Barely two weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the UN sanctions against Iran are aimed at “influencing the regimen with the hope to make it change its conduct.”
Clinton said “it is obvious that the government of Iran is trying to have a nuclear weapons program” aclandestine facilities and deceiving information are part of Tehranâs efforts to acquire such a destabilizing capacity.”
However, Panetta warned yesterday that a military action against Iran might trigger “undesirable consequences” and fail in its attempt to prevent Iran from “doing what it wants.”
Meanwhile, in Tehran, the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Jamanei, said that “the Iranian nation would react with an iron fist to any aggression or threat, so that the invaders crumble from within,”
Tension further escalated this week in the wake of claims by a report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it has evidence of alleged illegal scientific research in Iran. Diplomatic sources in Britain fear that Israel might prepare an attack by January 2012, as the UN Security Council cannot impose new sanctions on Iran due to the veto of Russia and China.
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