Obama to Middle East, Israel readies for war with Iran

Israeli air force gets ready to block air strikes and missiles from Syria and Iran. Obama is growing impatient with Iran.

JERUSALEM (AsiaNews) - "An Iranian attack is certain. We are waiting for the outcome of Iran's presidential elections to decide," said an Israeli security source who asked his identity be withheld. He spoke on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East; the US leader wants to reshape the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Islamic worlds, including, for now, engaging Tehran in a dialogue. But "Obama will have to be persuaded," said the source, who noted that the "world economy, to get out of its crisis, needs only one thing, a war that changes the pace and trends in international trade."

Israel has been warning about Tehran's nuclear threat for quite some time. Rumours of possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz and Arak have been the talk of the region for years.

Increasing the sense of pending war, today air sirens went off across Israel at 11 am to signal the start of military exercises called Turning point 3. When the alarm sounded adults and school children ran to the nearest anti-aircraft shelter where they were shown emergency drill videos.

Turning point 3, which began on Sunday, is set to last until Thursday. It is the third in a series of exercises that began in the summer 2006, when Israel waged war on Hizbollah in Lebanon, and involves the entire population and every school in the country. It is designed to prepare everyone for possible emergencies: missile attacks from the south (Gaza) and the north (Hizbollah); attacks with non-conventional (bacteriological) weapons; attacks against essential civilian infrastructure.

It is clear to everyone that Iran is the expected attacker. Two weeks ago Israel's air force conducted simulations that included air and missile attacks from Syria and Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu based his whole campaign on neutralising Iran's nuclear threat, and has even urged Pope Benedict XVI for support. But his main interlocutor remains Obama. When the two met in May in Washington some sources said that the Israeli leader gave the United States an ultimatum. If Tehran does not change its policy by August, Israeli planes will attack Iran's nuclear sites.

In the press conference that followed President Obama said that he will wait till December to see any sign of change in Tehran in response to his overtures towards Iran.

For some observers Obama's deadline is a sign that the US president is growing impatient with the Iranians.

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Barack Obama will be in Saudi Arabia tomorrow before travelling to Egypt. Media reports suggest that he will try to persuade Arab nations to become involved in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Egypt he will try to bridge the loss of trust between the United States and Islam.

But his trip to the Middle East could also bring together the Arab world, or most of it, in opposition to Iran. Even his criticism of Israel over Jewish settlements and his demand on Israel for a commitment to a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine) is part of a strategy to convince Arab nations that the US president is, at least apparently, not totally beholden to Israel.