( L - R ) Ahmadinejad, Barak
JERUSALEM (AP)
Israel's defence minister hinted yesterday that Israel was ready to attack Iran's nuclear programme, saying it didn't balk before "when its vital security interests" were at stake.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak's allusion to Israel's 1981 airstrike on an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor came at a time of intensified tensions between Israel and its arch-enemy, Iran. Tehran launched war games and tests of a long-range missile this week after saying Tel-Aviv would be "set on fire" if Israel were to attack Iran.
"Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past that it doesn't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake," Barak told a meeting of his Labour Party.
Tempered remarks
But he quickly tempered his remarks, noting that "the reactions of enemies ... need to be taken into consideration as well".
Earlier in the day, Israel put its latest spy plane on display, in what defence officials said was a show of strength in response to Iran's war games and missile tests.
Israel is convinced Iran is building nuclear weapons, despite Tehran's insistence that it is developing energy. Israel's fears about Iran have only been heightened by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for the Jewish state's destruction.
Iran has long warned it would strike back for any attack against it. But it has sharpened its rhetoric since Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean in June for a large military exercise that United States officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
This week's missile tests made a dramatic show of Tehran's readiness to strike back in the event of a US or Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities.
Among the missiles Iran said it tested was a new version of the Shahab-3, which has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a one-ton conventional warhead.
The missile puts Israel, Turkey, Pakistan and the Arabian peninsula within striking distance.
