Iran draws up plan to strike Israel
Nazila Fathi, Tehran
September 21, 2007
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iran-draws-up-plan-to-strike-

A SENIOR Iranian military official has warned that Tehran has prepared
a plan to attack Israel if Israel bombs Iran.

"We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if
this regime possibly makes a silly mistake," General Mohammad Alavi,
the deputy commander of Iran's air force, said.

General Alavi spoke after remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner, who said on Sunday that nations should prepare for a
possible war with Iran if it continued with its nuclear drive. Mr
Kouchner and the French Foreign Ministry subsequently toned down the
remarks.

International pressure on Iran increased this week. The permanent
members of the UN Security Council — the US, France, Britain, China
and Russia — plus Germany will meet in Washington tomorrow Melbourne
time to discuss tougher economic sanctions on Iran to prevent it from
acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran has already been the target of two sets of economic sanctions.

The US and some European countries accuse Iran of having a clandestine
nuclear arms program. But Iran insists that its program is peaceful.

General Alavi added in a long interview with Iranian news agency Fars
that Iran's "missiles can reach all parts of Israel" if Iran wants to
retaliate.

"In addition, we can attack them with our fighter bombers in case of
an unlikely attack.

"They should know that we will destroy at least 30 per cent of their
forces before they can leave our country," he warned, referring to a
possible air strike against Iran.

Iranian officials have dismissed threats of war as psychological
warfare, but have vowed to retaliate if attacked.

The White House said General Alavi's comments were "totally unprovoked
and unnecessary".

Earlier, Iranian Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham dismissed as
"far fetched" the idea that, if attacked, Iran would block the Hormuz
Strait, the world's most important waterway for oil shipments.

But he said: "We would use all our means to defend ourselves, because
territorial integrity is a key issue for every country."

US Navy chiefs are concerned that Iran could resort to mining the
strait and the wider Gulf in a major conflict.

■A firestorm has erupted over a request made last month by Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Ground Zero so he could lay a
wreath.

The request was rejected by New York police because the site is closed
while construction continues on the Freedom Tower.

But a mis-statement by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said the
request was still being considered, made its way to the websites of
several newspapers and sparked a torrent of criticism from
presidential candidates.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani called Mr Ahmadinejad's request
"outrageous", describing him as "a man who has made threats against
the US and Israel; is harbouring (Osama) bin Laden's son and other al-
Qaeda leaders; is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents; and is pursuing
the development of nuclear weapons".

NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS, NEWSDAY