Iran developing missile to hit US, senior Israeli official says

Feb 2, 2012, 15:18 GMT

Tel Aviv - Iran is developing a missile with a 10,000 kilometre range, which would put the US within range of attack, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Thursday.

He told a conference near Tel Aviv Thursday that the Iranian research & design centre hit by an explosion last November was developing a system to produce such a missile.

Ya'alon, who is also Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister, said all Iran's nuclear facilities were vulnerable to military attack.

'Any facility defended by a human being, can be penetrated by a human being,' Ya'alon said. 'It's possible to strike all of Iran's facilities, and I say that based on my experience as (a former) Israel Defence Force chief of staff.'

He said the West has the ability to strike, but so long as 'Iran is not convinced about its determination to do so, they will continue their manipulations. The Iranians believe this determination, as regards a military action and sanctions, is non-existent.'

Stopping Iran's nuclear project, he said, needed a combination of political isolation, economic sanctions, support for the opposition in Iran, and a reliable military option.

According to Ya'alon, 'the success of sanctions would burden the Iranian regime to such an extent that it would be motivated by survival, rather than continuation of the nuclear programme.'

'Such a non-conventional regime,' he said, 'should not have such non-conventional capabilities.'

Read more about Israel