Jerusalem: Asserting that use of military force to foil Iran's nuclear ambitions would be an act of "last resort", Israel's Air Force chief has said that his unit has the capacity "to get job done" if ordered to do so.
Major-General Amir Eshel, in his first television interview in the three years since he took command of the Israeli Air Force, told Israel's Channel 10 yesterday that an Iran with a nuclear capability "would have grave significance for the whole of Middle East, and not just for Israel".
When asked why the Israeli air force had not been ordered to strike at Iranian nuclear installations in the way that it destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osiraq in 1981 and, according to foreign reports, a Syrian reactor in 2007, Eshel said that Israel "has a range of tools" for grappling with threats.
"The solution is through the use of a combination of these tools," he stressed adding however that the use of military force "is the last resort" and "that decision has not yet been made".
"I have to prepare a capability so that if a decision is taken, we have the genuine capacity to get the job done. That's our role," he added.
The TV report said that Israel has invested "immense resources" in preparing for a possible strike on Iran.
"The Israeli Air Force has been building the capacity to attack Iran for more than a decade," it emphasised.
Talking about Israeli concerns regarding Russia-made S-300 air defence system, which Moscow has indicated that it may supply to Iran, Eshel said its deployment would present "a significant challenge" but one that the Israeli air force could successfully overcome.
"The S-300 is a very sophisticated system. It uses long-range missiles with very impressive capabilities. But there is no challenge that cannot be cracked. It's not a wall that blocks you and you cannot clear," he said.
Israel's air force had been "developing our capabilities, our technology and methodology" for some time to meet the challenge, the Air Force chief added.
