Talk of attacking Iran escalates tensions

He said the third element is "a very, very clear signal and a clear statement that all options are on the table." Mofaz added: "I never said there is no military option, and the military option is included in all the options that are on the table, but at this time it's right to use the path of sanctions, and to intensify them."

Ynetnews reports that Iran filed a complaint to the UN Security Council of Mofaz's remarks, as well as similar remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in which he said "it would take 10 days and 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles" to critically damage Iran's nuclear program.

According to the Jerusalem Post, unnamed "senior American military officers" told the paper that they support military action against Iran to prevent the country from becoming a nuclear power, and that the US Navy and Air Force "would play the primary roles in any military action."

A high-ranking American military officer told the Post that senior officers in the US armed forces had thrown their support behind Bush and believed that additional steps needed to be taken to stop Iran.

Predictions within the US military are that Bush will do what is needed to stop Teheran before he leaves office in 2009, including possibly launching a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, Iran has not let the increasingly hostile posturing by Israel and the US go unnoticed. Agence France-Presse reports that Gholam Ali Hadad Adel, a member of Iran's parliament, told reporters during a visit to Kuwait on Sunday that Iran would attack US military bases in the Gulf if they were used to stage an attack on the country. Mr. Haddad Adel added that Iran's neighbors in the Gulf had "learned many lessons from the US invasion of Iraq," and that "officials in the region are not likely to link their fate with US mistakes" by allowing them to stage attacks in their countries. In a report on Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency, Haddad Adel, after returning to Iran, added that "it is unlikely that US will try its chance in the region for the third time after its defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan."

AFP also reports that Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah, the interior and defense minister of Kuwait, a US ally, said his country would not allow the US to launch an attack on Iran from Kuwaiti territory..

The US journal Defense News reported that former Iranian defense minister Adm. Ali Shamkhani indicated that Iran would target any Gulf states that help US in such a way.

"Allegations by some Arab gulf states that the Iranian nuclear program poses an environmental threat to the area and that it would spark a nuclear arms race are aimed at helping the U.S. establish legitimacy for its anticipated aggression against Iran," Shamkhani said.

U.S. military action threatens Iran's existence, he said, "but most of those who speak about the war option are well aware that Iran has the capability to face this choice."

However, in a report by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), Mr. Shamkhani said that he never gave an interview with Defense News, and that "the news is fake and unreal ."

Finally, Bloomberg reports that IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday that he is "increasingly disturbed by the current stalemate and the brewing confrontation" between Iran and the West over its nuclear program, adding the situation "urgently needs to be broken" and "must be diffused."

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