By JPOST STAFF, APiran nuke plant 298.88(photo credit: AP)
Senior British defense officials were scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the possibilities and ramifications of an attack on Iran. The meeting was supposed to remain secret, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
General Sir Michael Walker, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Ridgway, and Maj.-Gen. Bill Rollo will join government and foreign office representatives.
The Telegraph quoted a Foreign Office source as saying, "Monday's meeting will set out to address the consequences for Britain in the event of an attack against Iran. The CDS [chiefs of defence staff] will want to know what the impact will be on British interests in Iraq and Afghanistan which both border Iran.
The CDS will then brief the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on their conclusions in the next few days.
If Iran makes another strategic mistake, such as ignoring demands by the UN or future resolutions, then the thinking among the chiefs is that military action could be taken to bring an end to the crisis," the official continued.
Last week, Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military reported.
The Fajr-3, which means "Victory" in Farsi, can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East, state Iranian media indicated - causing alarm in the United States and Israel. The announcement also is likely to stoke regional tensions and feed suspicion about Tehran's military intentions and nuclear ambitions.
"I think it demonstrates that Iran has a very active and aggressive military program under way," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in Washington. "I think Iran's military posture, military development effort, is of concern to the international community."
Israel said it too was alarmed by the missile report.
"This news causes much concern," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, did not specify the missile's range, saying it depends on the weight of its warheads.
But state-run television described the weapon as "ballistic" - suggesting that it's of comparable range to Iran's existing ballistic rocket, which can travel over 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) and reach arch-foe Israel and US bases in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.
