The prospect of a pre-emptive air or missile strike by Israel against Iranian nuclear facilities took a step closer to realisation this week with a warning by Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz that Iran’s nuclear technology advancement now is at the point that Iran could develop an atomic bomb in a year, and not the five or more years many Western intelligence authorities have believed it would take.
Analysts are divided over the potential of such an attack to create political instability in neighbouring Arabian Gulf countries, since many moderate Gulf countries fear Iran’s regional aspirations.
