Don’t Bomb Iran

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts February 28, 2001, Wednesday
SECTION: Part 4 The Middle East; THE MIDDLE EAST; PALESTINIAN
AFFAIRS; ME/D4082/MED LENGTH: 274 words HEADLINE: Israel making
“secret moves” to set up Red Sea base for nuclear missiles SOURCE:
Source: Al-Quds, Jerusalem, in Arabic 26 Feb 01 pp 1, 14 BODY: [1] Text of
report by Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds on 26 February A report by the
Office of the Arab Boycott of Israel reveals that Israel is making secret
moves to set up a military base in the Red Sea from which it will launch
nuclear missiles from submarines it has recently purchased from Germany.
The report, which will be presented to the Arab foreign ministers meeting
in Cairo in mid-March, notes that Israel tested the launch of Cruise
missiles with nuclear warheads from the new Dolphin submarines near Sri
Lanka in May. The missiles hit their targets at a distance of 1,500 km.
The report asserts that Israel has a problem with its deterrent capability
- that is, its ability to deal Iran a nuclear blow from the sea. Israel
considers Iran its greatest threat, especially following the latter’s
successful test of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile. The report notes that
Eritrea refused to let Israel use the naval bases in the Dahlak Islands to
load the Dolphin submarines with missiles that can stay underwater for 30
consecutive days. The report also affirms that Israel has intensified its
efforts to find a military base in the Red Sea to implement its new plan
because it cannot implement it in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Persian
Gulf or the Arabian Sea because of security and strategic considerations
that prevent it from realizing its goal of deterring Iran and the Arab
states. The report states that Israel loaded its submarines with four
surface-to- surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Each of
them weighs 3 tonnes, contains 6 kg of plutonium and can cover a range of
1,500 km.