DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - THE WEST/IRAN: 1000 MISSILES OR NOT

Iran disabled 'with 1000 missiles'

IRAN'S disputed nuclear program could be severely hit by firing 1000 cruise missiles in a 10-day attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

Asked in an interview with Germany's Focus magazine whether military action would be an option if Iran continued to defy the UN, Olmert said: “Nobody is ruling it out.”

“It is impossible perhaps to destroy the entire nuclear program but it would be possible to damage it in such a way that it would be set back years,” Mr Olmert said.

“It would take 10 days and would involve the firing of 1000 Tomahawk cruise missiles.”

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Israel denies '1,000 missiles on Iran' comments

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office denies he told a German magazine that Iran's disputed nuclear program could be severely hit by firing 1,000 cruise missiles in a 10-day attack.

Germany's Focus magazine said its reporter Amir Taheri asked Mr Olmert military action would be an option if Iran continued to defy the United Nations. It quoted Mr Olmert as responding: "Nobody is ruling it out."

"It is impossible perhaps to destroy the entire nuclear program but it would be possible to damage it in such a way that it would be set back years," Focus quoted Mr Olmert as saying.

"It would take 10 days and would involve the firing of 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles," it quoted him as saying.

Mr Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said the prime minister had spoken to the author of the Focus article, but she said Olmert did not make the comments that were attributed to him.

Ms Eisin said the meeting was not an interview and was conducted for background purposes, on the understanding it would not be used.

"The prime minister did not say these things," she said.


Pertinent Links:

1) Iran disabled 'with 1000 missiles'

2) Israel denies '1,000 missiles on Iran' comments