US "preparing to strike Iran"

Seymour Hersh - "threat of military action against Iran is on the table"

Iran has been unusually silent following revelations in a story in the New Yorker which alleges the US are conducting secret operations in the country. The report which was also highlighted on CNN and al Jazeera today says the covert operations were part of the US preparation for a possible air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Seymour Hersh’s article, entitled "Preparing the Battlefield", has been dismissed as fantasy by the White House. Indeed the report is speculative, based on accounts from current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. However it is the latest in a string of articles that have suggested Bush is preparing for military action against Iran.
In 1981 Israel destroyed an Iraqi nuclear facility at Osirak, and in September 2007, they bombed a facility in Syria that U.S. officials have said was a nuclear reactor being constructed with North Korean assistance. These actions has increased speculation that Israel may take unilateral action against such facilities in Iran. Such an air strike would turn the region into a “Ball of Fire” head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned at the weekend. Mohamed ElBaradei made his comments during an interview on an Arab television station.
Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, has warned military action against Iran would be met with resistance and "cost them heavily." [Fox News / BBC]