Hagel: U.S., Israel see same Iran peril

He cautions Netanyahu government

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel places a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance as he tours Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel places a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance as he tours Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on Sunday.

JERUSALEM - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel opened a week-long visit to the Middle East on Sunday by pressing a U.S. agenda focused on deterring Iran - including a significant new weapons deal for Israel - coupled with a strong caution that it would be premature for Israel to opt for unilateral strikes on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Hagel, who was subject to intense scrutiny during his confirmation process over whether he was sufficiently supportive of Israel, hailed the “very special relationship” between the United States and Israel. He also repeatedly emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself “in a very dangerous, combustible region of the world.”

In preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the U.S. has said that all options are on the table, including military action. President Barack Obama and his national security team have argued for more time to pursue diplomacy and economic sanctions.

But some Israeli leaders say the timeline for Iran to build a nuclear bomb is short, and they regularly speak of unilateral action.

In recent days, Israeli officials have again discussed their right to act against Iran. But U.S. national security officials and military officers say it is unlikely that a strike by Israel would be sufficient to terminate Iran’s nuclear program or halt any ambitions by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons.


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Iran has denied it seeks to build nuclear weapons and has said its enrichment program is for civilian use.

An Iranian nuclear negotiator said that Iran’s coming presidential election will not affect its stance in nuclear talks with world powers.

The Sunday report by the official IRNA news agency quoted Abbas Araghchi as saying “changes in domestic politics in Iran will not affect the trend in nuclear talks.”

Araghchi, a deputy foreign minister, also said Iran is ready for further talks.

The remark is seen as a message to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany to return to talks after the last round in April made no breakthrough.

On Sunday, Hagel acknowledged that there might be “minor” differences between the U.S. and Israel on the timeline in which Iran might develop nuclear weapons.

“I think it’s important that we all keep our eye focused on the objective,” he said. “And there is no daylight there at all - that Iran is prevented from acquiring that nuclear capacity.”

Hagel stressed repeatedly that Israel has a sovereign right to decide for itself whether it must attack Iran. He made no mention of the possibility that an Israeli attack would draw the U.S. into the conflict and lead to a wider regional war.

The current series of multilateral economic sanctions on Iran is among the toughest, most effective ever applied, Hagel said. “We know through many measurements that those sanctions are hurting Iran - significantly.”

Even so, he acknowledged that diplomacy and sanctions were not guaranteed to succeed.

“Military options, most of us feel, ought to be the last option,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to see more urgency, reflecting in part the fact that certain Iranian technological advances toward a nuclear weapon could put the program beyond the ability of the Israeli military to destroy it with airstrikes. U.S. forces have greater reach.

During his travels, Hagel will be pushing forward with a $10 billion arms package intended to further increase Israel’s military edge over other powers in the region while also bolstering the armed forces of two important Persian Gulf allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Included in the weapons deal for Israel are tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft, which can be used for transporting troops and patrolling borders and nearby seas, as well as advanced radars for Israeli warplanes.

The United Arab Emirates will be allowed to purchase two dozen F-16 warplanes, and both Saudi Arabia and the emirates will be allowed to buy precision air-to-ground missiles. Those missiles are in a class of weapons described as “standoff,” meaning they can be launched from a safe distance against ground targets.

And two systems to be sold to Israel - a new generation of aerial refueling tankers and advanced missiles that home in on radar signals to destroy air-defense sites - would be important in any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Hagel said the weapons sales served as “another very clear signal to Iran.”

But U.S. officials also made it clear that the new arms should not be interpreted as tacit approval for Israel to accelerate planning for an attack on Iran.

Israel’s air force is on track to developing drones that within four to five decades would carry out nearly every battlefield operation executed today by piloted aircraft, a high-ranking Israeli officer said Sunday.

The officer, who works in the field of unmanned aerial vehicle intelligence, said Israel is speeding up research and development of such unmanned technologies for air, ground and naval forces.

Israel is a pioneer in drone technology. Its military was the first to make widespread use of drones in its 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israeli companies are considered world leaders and export unmanned aircraft to a number of armies, including U.S.-led forces that have used them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An Israeli government official said that one goal of Hagel’s visit was to strengthen the personal relationship between Hagel and his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Yaalon, since both men are new in their jobs. Yaalon, a former military chief of staff and minister of strategic affairs, was named defense minister in mid-March.

Israeli analysts noted that discussions between the two are expected to focus in part on how Israel will pay for the new weapons package. Israeli ideas are said to include purchasing used jets, receiving some equipment in the framework of the installation of U.S. military equipment in Israel, and to channel funding from regular U.S. aid to Israel, which topped $3 billion in the current fiscal year.

“An improvised solution is necessary,” Alex Fishman, a military affairs analyst, wrote Sunday in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, adding, “If we have no money, we’ll be left with nothing but paper.”

Hagel’s first order of business upon arrival in Jerusalem was a guided tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust history museum.

“There is no more poignant, more touching, more effective way to tell the story than this reality, as painful as it is, but it is a reality,” he said after completing his visit. “It did happen, and we must prepare our future generations … for a clear understanding that we must never allow this to happen again.” Information for this article was contributed by Thom Shanker of The New York Times; and by Robert Burns, Aron Heller and Daniel Estrin of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/22/2013

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