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Summary The US has acknowledged existence of a fully-fledged military plan to attack Iran
The United States has acknowledged the existence of a fully-fledged military plan to attack Iran, significantly increasing tensions with Tehran before crucial nuclear negotiations next week.Daniel Shapiro, Washingtons ambassador to Israel, warned the Iranian regime that only a brief window now existed to settle the impasse over its nuclear programme through talks.Issuing one of the most candid assessments yet made by a senior American official, he assured Israel that, if diplomacy failed, the United States was fully prepared to resort to military force to end the threat that the Jewish state says it faces from a nuclear-armed Iran. At a certain stage we are going to have to decide whether diplomacy isnt going to work, he told the Israeli Bar Association.It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than the use of military force. But that doesnt mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but its ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that its ready. American officials have tangentially referred to the existence of such plans, among them Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff until last year.But none has done so in such forthright terms for fear that US intentions could be misconstrued and lead to speculation that an attack was imminent.Mr Shapiros robust language was aimed at reinforcing President Barack Obamas pledge that he has Israels back and comes amid US fears that Benjamin Netanyahu, the countrys prime minister, could authorise unilateral Israeli military action.His words will prompt hostility in Iran at a delicate time, with Western powers seeing next weeks negotiations in Baghdad as a crucial and perhaps final opportunity to convince Iran peacefully to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
