Friday, July 14, 2006

Israel Seeks To Eliminate Iran’s Hezbollah Option

Since the toppling of Ba'th regime in Iraq in 2003, Iran has been the major adversary facting. Iran is certainly a major element in the calculus of Israel in its new Lebanon war. In particular, if Israel can eliminate the threat of Hizballah bombardment from southern Lebanon, it allows Israel a freer hand in atracking Iran, and it is no secret that Israel has been preparing to do just that.
It does not follow that Iran would seek to provoke Israel to invade Lebanon.
Israel Seeks To Eliminate Iran’s Hezbollah Option: "Tehran’s goal in arming Hezbollah, Israeli experts say, was to deter an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Now, by destroying these missiles during its current operation in Lebanon, Israel is attempting to restore its military flexibility and shattered deterrence against terrorism.

According to Israeli press reports, Israel’s intelligence community is convinced that Iran approved Hezbollah’s July 12 cross-border attack in which two Israeli soldiers were abducted and seven killed. By igniting the Israeli-Lebanese border, Israeli diplomats said, Iran is trying to divert attention from its standoff with the West over Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons."

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