Israel will attack Iran if May 23 nuke talks fail: report

From online dispatches

An Israeli F-15 takes off at the Hatzerim Air Force Base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba in this 2008 file photo. AP photo

Israel is ready to strike Iran's nuclear facilities in the event that May 23 nuclear talks in Baghdad fail to bear results, daily Milliyet reported today.

Milliyet's report cited Israeli broadcaster Channel 10 as its source, which claims to have interviewed Israeli military officers in recent weeks to reveal the details of a planned attack on Iran.
 
Dozens of Israeli strike bombers, escort fighters, tanker planes, electronic warfare planes and rescue helicopters are to take part in an operation aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear program, Channel 10 reportedly said. 
 
F-15E "Strike Eagle" warplanes are expected to spearhead the attack on Iran as they are the planes with the longest operational range in the Israeli Air Force, the report said. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) called "Eitans," or "Herons," are also reportedly set to participate in the attack.
 
The report said the Israeli military has already set up secure zones to relocate the families of pilots who will carry out the strike.
 
Channel 10 reportedly said the Israeli Air Force has prepared a "short and professional" assault, knowing it does not have the capacity to fully eradicate Iran's nuclear program. The air force also acknowledged that they would suffer casualties in the attack.
 
The report said Israel was aware that such an attack on Iran would prompt the Lebanese Hezbollah to launch an attack on Israel and accepted the fact that a "full-scale war not seen in the last 30 years would break out in northern Israel."