Posted on 02/17/2009 11:33:50 AM PST by lewisglad
Israel has started assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists as part of its efforts to disrupt the Islamist regime's illicit weapons program, the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday quoted Western intelligence sources as saying.
"Israel has shown no hesitation in assassinating weapons scientists for hostile regimes in the past," a European intelligence official told the British daily, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They did it with Iraq and they will do it with Iran when they can," the official added.
The paper also quoted United States intelligence sources as saying Israel is using sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the Islamist republic's illicit weapons program as an alternative to direct military strikes.
The British daily said Israel's Mossad espionage agency was rumored to be behind the death of Ardeshire Hassanpour, a top nuclear scientist at Iran's Isfahan uranium plant, who died in mysterious circumstances from a reported "gas poisoning" in 2007.
Other recent deaths of important figures in the procurement and enrichment process in Iran and Europe have been the result of Israeli "hits", intended to deprive Tehran of key technical skills at the head of the program, according to analysts.
The Daily Telegraph quoted Israeli officials as privately acknowledging the new U.S. administration is unlikely to sanction an air attack on Iran's nuclear installations and that President Barack Obama's offer to extend a hand of peace to Tehran puts any direct military action beyond reach for now.
The aim is to slow down or interrupt Iran's research program, without the gamble of a direct confrontation that could lead to a wider war, the report said.
"Disruption is designed to slow progress on the program, done in such a way that they don't realize what's happening. You are never going to stop it," a former CIA officer on Iran told the newspaper.
"The goal is delay, delay, delay until you can come up with some other solution or approach. We certainly don't want the current Iranian government to have those weapons. It's a good policy, short of taking them out militarily, which probably carries unacceptable risks," the official said.
Public service. Good work.
Israel knows what she is doing...
Certainly cheaper and cleaner than bombing.
Good show.
...but not as 'sudden'. You nail a few and the rest 'go-to-ground'.
Get em in the crosshairs. Breathe, relax, aim, slack....squeeze. It takes BRASS ones. Israel knows what it takes. Keep up the great work.
Who do I mail my financial contribution to?
Good. Keep it up.
Don't underestimate the probability of simple incompetence. Breathing uranium hexaflouride isn't good for you. The Soviet Union was just full of "wreckers" and saboteurs every time the crops failed.
Shalom!
And of course it REALLY helps the cause to put it in the paper/s/.
Can I help? I’d just consider it “range time”.
Christian for Israel Bump!!!
LOL!
The Turks carry the “news” from a British paper.
Killing off the top end of Iran's gene pool is just kicking the war can down the road. There will just be more and dumber Iranians that need killing later.
The only peaceful Neanderthals are dead Neanderthals. The Israelis always pull their punches, and so the Middle East conflict never ends. A better long-term strategy might be to let Iran lob a crude nuclear weapon, then turn Iran into a sheet of glass.
“You nail a few and the rest ‘go-to-ground.”
Tell that to Adolf Eichmann.
I also suspect Israel has secretly replaced key reactor componenets with faulty ones. Just another way to render a nuclear reactor worthless.
Man, it sure is a good thing those CIA guys know how to keep a secret. Otherwise the whole world might know what those damned Israelis are up to.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.