Credit:Asiatimes:
By David Isenberg
WASHINGTON – Despite renewed media speculation regarding possible Israeli attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities as early as this spring, skepticism that such a campaign could actually be successfully carried out remains relatively high, raising the question of whether there is more bark than bite to Israeli threats.
It cannot expect a repeat of 1981 when the Israeli air force destroyed the Osirak reactor at Al-Tuwaythah, just south of Baghdad. The Iranians are aware of both Israeli capabilities and the US-made precision-guided penetrating munitions in the Israeli inventory. The Iranian program has been dispersed all over the country – estimates range between 12 and more than 20 locations – and the facilities have been built with US and Israeli capabilities
in mind and are protected by modern Russian air defense systems.
The single-most critical element of the Iranian program is thought to be the Natanz facility. The heart of the facility is the centrifuge area, located in an underground, hardened structure.
But even if Israel tries to limits the target set, it would still have to attack other facilities besides Natanz. For example, the newer Fordow fuel-enrichment plant near Qom, where Iran has already moved 3.5% enriched uranium from Natanz, is built into the side of a mountain and is heavily fortified. There is a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, a heavy-water facility being constructed at Arak and centrifuge factories outside Tehran.