United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

The news that Israel carried out in early June a massive military exercise over the eastern Mediterranean that seemed to rehearse the logistics for a strike on Iran's nuclear program has elicited commentary around the world. -- Reuters reported Friday that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Mohamad ElBaradei, said he would resign in the event of an attack on Iran.[1] -- "A military strike, in my opinion, would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball," he said. -- The speaker of the Majlis, Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, who was for a long period Iran's nuclear negotiator with the West, said: "If they make such a grave mistake, they will pay a high price for it," the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.[2] -- Iran's Press TV reported that a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards who had just "oversee[n] a military exercise aimed at detecting and destroying mock targets in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz" said Iran was "prepared to detect and repel any potential attack against the country’s nuclear facilities."[3] -- Barack Obama said Israel was "always justified in making decisions that will provide for its security" but that "[w]ithout access to the actual detailed intelligence, I want to be careful about characterizing what was done and whether it was appropriate or not," Reuters reported, adding that Israel's ambassador to the U.S. told CBS News: "[A]s our prime minister recently said Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran. . . . [time i]s running out."[4] ...

U.N. ATOM WATCHDOG CHIEF SAYS TO QUIT IF IRAN IS ATTACKED
By Lin Noueihed and Firouz Sedarat

DUBAI -- The chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in remarks aired on Friday that he would resign if there was a military strike on Iran, warning that any such attack would turn the region into a "fireball."

"I don't believe that what I see in Iran today is a current, grave, and urgent danger. If a military strike is carried out against Iran at this time . . . it would make me unable to continue my work," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamad ElBaradei told Al Arabiya television in an interview.

"A military strike, in my opinion, would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball," he said, emphasizing that any attack would only make the Islamic Republic more determined to obtain nuclear power.

"If you do a military strike, it will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West."

The New York Times reported on Friday that U.S. officials said Israel carried out a large military exercise this month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The newspaper said Israeli officials would not discuss the exercise.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said on Saturday a possible Israeli attack against the Islamic Republic would be a "grave mistake," the official IRNA news agency reported.

"If they make such a grave mistake, they will pay a high price for it," Larijani was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the commemoration ceremony for late martyr Mostafa Chamran.

In his reaction to a report on a possible Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear installations, Larijani said: "We are ready to face any situation."

The New York Times reported Friday that U.S. military believed a major military exercise by Israel earlier this month was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Some American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.

More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, U.S. officials said.

The exercise also involved Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles (1,450 km), which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.

A spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel," declining to discuss details of the exercise.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who visited Washington in early June, said "the Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means," indicating that military resort can not be excluded.

His remarks about Iran's nuclear threat are believed to be the strongest ever the Israeli leader has made on the issue.

TEHRAN -- A senior Iranian commander says the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is geared up to counter any act of aggression against the country.

Speaking to reporters on an IRGC command ship in the Persian Gulf fleet headquarters, Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari said Saturday that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to detect and repel any potential attack against the country’s nuclear facilities.

After overseeing a military exercise aimed at detecting and destroying mock targets in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, Maj. Gen. Jafari asserted that Iran’s army is equipped with cutting-edge military warfare enabling it to instantly respond to any act of aggression.

The maneuver, which was a rehearsal of different passive defense methods, included torpedo and missile speedboat drills, sources told Press TV.

Maj. Gen. Jafari’s remarks came a day after a New York Times report quoted Pentagon officials as saying that over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged a maneuver off the southern Mediterranean island of Crete in the first week of June.

According to the report, the Israeli jets flew more than 900 miles, roughly the distance from Israeli airfields to an Iranian nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.

Although Israeli officials have declined to comment on the report, military analysts believe the exercise was a ‘dress rehearsal’ for a possible air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel accuses Iran of ‘producing bomb-grade uranium’ and has repeatedly threatened the country with war.

This is while Israel bars inspections of its nuclear facilities and is widely believed to have over 200 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. Israel calls its approach of neither denying nor admitting that it has nuclear weapons ‘strategic ambiguity.’

Iran, however, is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allows the U.N. nuclear watchdog to conduct inspections of its nuclear facilities.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama said that Israel is justified in providing for its security amid the "extraordinary threat" posed to it by Iran.

He spoke after the New York Times quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying that Israel had carried out a large military exercise this month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Obama, a Democrat who is running against Republican John McCain in the November election, was asked at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida whether Israel was right to carry out the exercise.

"Without access to the actual detailed intelligence, I want to be careful about characterizing what was done and whether it was appropriate or not," Obama, an Illinois senator, said.

But he added that the Jewish state was right to be concerned about the anti-Israel comments of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and about Tehran's support for Hezbollah and Hamas.

"And so there is no doubt that Iran poses an extraordinary threat to Israel and Israel is always justified in making decisions that will provide for its security," Obama said.

The Times said more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters took part in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June.

It said the exercise appeared to be an effort to focus on long-range strikes and illustrates the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, also talked of the threat posed by Iran in an interview with CBS News.

"We cannot take this threat lightly and as our prime minister recently said Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran," Meridor told the U.S. television network.

Asked how much time was left before the diplomatic window closes, Meridor replied, "Less today than we had yesterday, and it's, it's running out."