US drawing up plans for Iran attack - Sunday Telegraph

LONDON (AFX) - US military strategists are drawing up plans for an attack on Iran as a last resort to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper in London reported.

In a front-page dispatch from Washington picked up by Agence France-Presse, the paper said Central Command and Strategic Command planners were 'identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation.'

The planners are reporting to the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with a view to having a military option if diplomatic efforts fail to put the brakes on Iran's suspected quest for nuclear weaponry.

'This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment,' the Sunday Telegraph quoted a senior Pentagon adviser as saying. 'This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months.'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned yesterday that Tehran could quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty if it is forced by the West to limit its disputed nuclear programme, which it insists is for civilian purposes, AFP said.

Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency referred Iran to the UN Security Council after the oil-rich nation resumed its uranium enrichment program.