Originally published February 26 2006
Research group releases report on the outcome of a future air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Oxford Research Group, headed by Professor Paul Brown of the University of Bradford, has released a report predicting the consequences of an aerial strike on Iran by the U.S., including fatalities that could reach into the thousands.
Thousands of military personnel and hundreds of civilians would be killed if the United States launched an air strike on Iran to prevent it developing nuclear arms, a British think tank said in a report released on Monday.
The report by the independent Oxford Research Group said any bombing of Iran by U.S. forces, or by their Israeli allies, would have to be part of a surprise attack on a range of facilities including urban areas that would catch many Iranians unprotected.
"I think there is at least a 50:50 risk of some sort of real crisis, probably with military action, before the end of next year," said the report's author, Professor Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford.
"There is always the possibility that the Israelis do (it).
I don't think you can rule that out," he told Reuters.
"For the Israelis, having an Iran which is getting anywhere close to a nuclear weapons capability is simply not acceptable."
An attack could eventually lead to a lengthy confrontation involving many other countries in the region, could mean the closure of the Gulf, and would probably have a "formidable" impact on oil prices, as well as spurring new attacks by Muslim radicals on Western interests, the report said.
"A U.S. military attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure would be the start of a protracted military confrontation," the report said.
Such a confrontation would probably involve Iraq, Israel and Lebanon as well as the United States and Iran, with the possibility of Arab Gulf states being involved as well.
"Military deaths in (the) first wave of attacks against Iran would be expected to be in the thousands," it said.
"If the war evolved into a wider conflict, primarily to pre-empt or counter Iranian responses, the casualties would eventually be much higher."
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