Israel mulls options on Iran

[steve2470]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1023israel-iran23.html

JERUSALEM - Increasingly concerned about Iran's nuclear program, Israel is weighing its options and has not ruled out a military strike to prevent the Islamic republic from gaining the capability to build atomic weapons, according to policymakers, military officials, analysts and diplomats.

Israel said it would much prefer a diplomatic agreement to shut down Iran's uranium-enrichment program, but if it concluded that Tehran was approaching a "point of no return," it would not be deterred by the difficulty of a military operation, the prospect of retaliation or the international reaction, officials and analysts said.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his top aides have been saying for months that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a clear threat to Israel's existence. They have repeatedly threatened, in elliptical but unmistakable terms, to use force if diplomacy and the threat of sanctions fail.<snip>