Analyst Sees Possibility of EMP Strike on Iran
U.S. sees signs Israel could use nuclear EMP attack against IranU.S. intelligence agencies recently reported growing concerns that Israel will conduct a strike on Iran using a high-altitude nuclear burst aimed at disrupting all electronics in the country.The intelligence worries were triggered by recent publication of anarticlein the Israeli press suggesting the Jewish state should carry out an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack.U.S. officials said the article likely reflects official Israeli government thinking about a possible preemptive response to Iran’s expected emergence as a nuclear weapons state in the near future.Asked about the EMP report, an Israeli government spokesman declined to comment. A U.S. intelligence community spokesman also declined comment.A U.S. official said the article in question appeared Aug. 6 in the news outlet Israel National News. The article stated that an Israeli nuclear burst over Iran could “send Iran back to the Stone Age.”It was the first time the issue of a nuclear EMP attack by Israel had appeared in a mainstream Israeli press outlet.
Op-Ed: Israel’s EMP Attack Can Send Iran Back to the Stone Age
There is no question that Iran is now a de facto nuclear state - a “casus belli” for Israeli military action.As Iran miscalculates Israeli resolve, it is clear that the diplomatic dance of deceit and empty bluster for years is over. The die is cast and Israel has crossed the Rubicon, since a significant spectacle of events is set to begin to work against Iran come October.While the onus is on Iran to abide by itsinternationalobligations, the wild card is in Israel’s hand - withElectrnonic Magnetic Pulse (EMP) inscribed on it. Since diplomacy and sanctions were an abject failure, war has become inevitable and preparations for preventing Iran’s rapid nuclear progress have, thus far, accelerated.Despite Israel’s highly advanced technology and strategic military advantage, Israel’s fear of an Iranian existential threat is understandable. In any case, Israel has done it the past with flawlessprecisionwhen it destroyed Iraq’sOsiraq reactor in 1981 and aSyrian reactor being built by North Koreans in 2007. Both surprise attacks were immensely successful and kept Israel’s enemies scratching their heads in disbelief, stunning the world.Iran has reached the ‘zone of immunity.’There are five solid reasons that Iran has now entered what Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak termed as the “zone of immunity”:First,Iran plans to ratchet up enrichment up to 60 per cent uranium which is now on the way to an 80-90 percent weapons grade.Second, Iran has accelerated its forced projection and tested ballistic missilesdeliverysystem in anEMP modewith North Korean assistance.Thirdl, Iran’s stockpile of low grade enriched uranium can be converted to five nuclear weapons if refined further, according to theInstitute for Science and International Security.Fourth, satellite imagery showsmega-fortification of underground nuclear facilities impervious to U.S. super bunker buster bombs.Finally, Iran has started the process of loading 163fuel rodsinto the core of Bushehr nuclear power plant reactor.In light of the latest developments, there is no question that Iran is now a de facto nuclear state - a “casus belli” for Israeli military action. Although the military option is unattractive and untenable, failure to act would be much worse if Iran got the atomic bomb.A large majority of Israelis and Americans believes that Israel would be better off if the U.S. would lead the attack on Iran.