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F16s (pictured) and F15s, along with rescue helicopters and refueling tankers took part in the exercise.
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| By Israel Insider staff June 20, 2008 |
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Israel carried out a major air exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, the New York Times reported. The officials said the drill was intended to test the air force's capacity to carry out a long-range strike and also to send a message about the seriousness with which Israel regards Iran's nuclear program.
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.
The exercise also included the use of Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots and refueling tankers. The sortie involved flights of more than 900 miles (1500 kilometers), approximately the distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.
Israeli officials initially declined to discuss the details of the exercise on the record. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel." Israeli media are not allowed to published reports on military operations except to cite foreign reports.
But Saturday night, YnetNews, the website of Israeli's leading daily Yediot Aharonot, published the following anonymous quote from an Israeli "political official": "The Iranians should read the writing on the wall. This was a dress rehearsal, and the Iranians should read the script before they continue with their program for nuclear weapons," the source said. "If diplomacy does not yield results, Israel will take military steps to halt Teheran?s production of bomb-grade uranium."
But the scope of the Israeli exercise guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," the Pentagon official said. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."
Debkafile reports that the Greek Air force confirmed its participation in the exercise, but did not confirm the claim that it was a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran. The Greek source stated no ground targets were involved as the drill was mainly aimed at personnel training. It was the first large-scale exercise between Israel and the air force of Greece, a member of NATO. Up to 40 Israeli Air force F-15 and F-16 warplanes were based at the Greek Air Force Station at Souda on the southern Mediterranean island of Crete for the duration of the exercise, said Debka source.
Full report in the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Russia said that there was no proof Iran was developing nuclear weapons and warned against striking Iranian territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the UN nuclear monitoring agency. He made the statement when asked to comment on Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.
"I hope the actual actions would be based on international law," Lavrov said. "And international law clearly protects Iran's and anyone else's territorial integrity."
The IDF refused to confirm or deny a New York Times report Friday that its warplanes staged a major rehearsal this month for a possible attack on Iran.
Lavrov said Russia had asked both the United States and Israel to provide factual information to back their claims that Iran was working to build atomic weapons. "So far we have seen none, and the same conclusion was made by the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said. "It's absolutely not right to speak matter-of-factly that Iran continues building nuclear weapons," Lavrov added. |
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"This was a dress rehearsal, and the Iranians should read the script before they continue with their program for nuclear weapons."
Israeli official, commenting on the exercise in YnetNews
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