News Analysis: U.S Attack on Iran ‘likely’

What’s the story? Britain’s armed forces are busily making contingency plans for potential military action against Iran, according to The Guardian, a UK daily newspaper

It’s not the UK that will be taking the military action, though?  The lead will be taken by the United States but they are looking to create another ‘coalition of the willing’ which would likely include the UK.

Another major US military adventure in the region and this time within a year of a Presidential election – this is a high risk option. Why now? A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to be published next week which is expected to provide fresh evidence of a possible nuclear weapons programme in Iran. Whitehall sources have informed The Guardian that it could be “a game changer”.

But didn’t a computer worm planted on Iranian computers cause untold damage to their centrifuges? That would be the Stuxnet virus which the Americans and Israelis secreted onto the Iranian systems. Yes, it certainly put back their programme but, according to Whitehall sources, the Iranians are very much back in business.

‘Whitehall sources’, eh? This is beginning to sound very similar to the build up to another conflict in the region with a country that shares a border with Iran.  Well, we’re getting the ‘there’s only a limited window of opportunity to deal with this’ line.  The Iranians are, allegedly, moving their most efficient centrifuges to a base beneath a mountain.  The missiles the Americans have available apparently can’t touch this particular base.

So we can steady ourselves for the increasing beat of the drums of war? Unfortunately and depressingly, the noises that are being made seem like we’re being prepared for exactly that.  That said, there is the possibility this is a not so tacit warning to Iran to halt what they are doing – or face the consequences…

by James Mullan

James, the co-founder of MidEastPosts, is a former Director of a leading global public relations firm in the Middle East, and a Managing Partner of Insight, a successful media training business that works with clients at a senior level throughout the region.

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