US `prepared’ to attack Iran, says Panetta

tert.am
17:54 – 28.05.12

United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the US prevents
Iran from developing a nuclear weapon at every cost, thenewstribe.com
reported.

The American envoy to Israel earlier said that the military option is
`fully available’ and the necessary planning has been done.

`We will do everything we can to prevent them from developing a
weapon,’ ABC News quoted him as saying.
Earlier, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro’s said on Israel’s Army Radio on
May 17 that Washington has a military contingency plan in case
`diplomatic talks’ fail to `pressure’ Iran successfully. He said the
option is not only `fully available’, but `ready.’

Now, a week on, Panetta said US officials `have plans to be able to
implement any contingency we have to in order to defend ourselves.’
However, Panetta said that the US still hopes that the conflict over
Iran’s nuclear ambitions can be `resolved diplomatically.’
Israel is the only country insisting on using military force to
pressure Iran away from a suspected nuclear weapon.