UK Foreign Office: Israel Expected To Attack Iran Next Month

“We’re expecting something as early as Christmas, or very early in the new year,” the source is quoted as saying, adding that the Israelis will attack Iran’s nuclear sites “sooner rather than later”.

The source ruled out UK involvement, suggesting that even if Iran acquired the bomb it would not dare use it, adding, “The bigger concern is it will be impossible to stop Saudi Arabia and Turkey from developing their own weapons.”

The revelation came one week after British chief of staff, Gen. Sir David Richards paid a secret visit to Israel which was followed the next day by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visiting London for talks with British military chiefs.

While some news outlets noted that the Mail’s links with intelligence circles gave the source some credibility, others like YNet, the website for Israel’s most widely read newspaper, largely dismissed the claim as “questionable”.

As we previously reported, the window of opportunity for an attack before Iran moves the bulk of its nuclear processing equipment underground is quickly evaporating.

Although NATO powers, along with President Obama, have reacted with less enthusiasm about the possibility of an attack, the prospect of Israel going it alone for the duration of a bombing campaign is seen as unlikely. The intelligence source quoted by the Mail says the U.S. will provide “logistical” support along similar lines to America’s involvement in Libya.

As we previously highlighted, even if the United States does not become embroiled in the military campaign from the outset, reprisal attacks by Iran and its offshoots will be used as the pretext for American involvement.

“Since this attack would almost certainly bring forth reprisals from Tehran and its allies, Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami, it would almost certainly expand into a wider Middle East conflict, thus also broadening US and West European military intervention,” reports DebkaFile.

In a related development, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that any attack on Iran would be met with an “iron fist”.

“Our enemies, particularly the Zionist regime (Israel), America and its allies, should know that any kind of threat and attack or even thinking about any (military) action will be firmly responded to,” Khamenei told state television.