The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

'Israeli strike against Iran won't work'
Oct. 26, 2008
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel may not be able to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions with a military strike, should the option prove necessary, given the level of fortification employed by the Islamic Republic to protect its nuclear facilities, Western intelligence experts said in a Newsweek report.

The report was published online Saturday, and will appear in the November 3, 2008 issue of the magazine.

According to the report, in order for an Israeli strike to slow or destroy the nuclear program, four key sites would need to be hit. However, the effectiveness of the attack would be hampered by the fact that Iran has built these sites deep underground, and surrounded them with barriers more than 60 feet thick. Such fortifications could only be penetrated by several bunker-buster bombs striking exactly the same spot, the experts told the magazine.

While the sources said that more damage could be achieved by employing nuclear weapons, they told Newsweek that it was unlikely Israel would use such weapons.

The magazine also reported about another incident which could have implications for Western efforts to block Iranian nuclear proliferation. According to two Western counter-proliferation officials who talked to Newsweek, a top Iranian-Canadian informant for the German intelligence agency, BND was recently arrested by German Customs officers on suspicion that he was illegally shipping missile-technology to Iran. The man, who was code-named "Sinbad," had worked for the BND for 10 years, and supplied the agency with high-quality Iranian government documents while providing Teheran with technology. However, the arrangement did not include the activities for which Sinbad was arrested, and therefore hampered BND efforts to stop the investigation.