The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.
A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.
It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.
Tomorrow's meeting will be attended by Gen Sir Michael Walker, the chief of the defence staff, Lt Gen Andrew Ridgway, the chief of defence intelligence and Maj Gen Bill Rollo, the assistant chief of the general staff, together with officials from the Foreign Office and Downing Street.
The International Atomic Energy Authority, the nuclear watchdog, believes that much of Iran's programme is now devoted to uranium enrichment and plutonium separation, technologies that could provide material for nuclear bombs to be developed in the next three years.
The United States government is hopeful that the military operation will be a multinational mission, but defence chiefs believe that the Bush administration is prepared to launch the attack on its own or with the assistance of Israel, if there is little international support. British military chiefs believe an attack would be limited to a series of air strikes against nuclear plants - a land assault is not being considered at the moment.
But confirmation that Britain has started contingency planning will undermine the claim last month by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that a military attack against Iran was "inconceivable".
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, insisted, during a visit to Blackburn yesterday, that all negotiating options - including the use of force - remained open in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US navy ships and submarines in the Gulf would, it is believed, target Iran's air defence systems at the nuclear installations.
That would enable attacks by B2 stealth bombers equipped with eight 4,500lb enhanced BLU-28 satellite-guided bunker-busting bombs, flying from Diego Garcia, the isolated US Navy base in the Indian Ocean, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Whiteman USAF base in Missouri.
It is understood that any direct British involvement in an attack would be limited but may extend to the use of the RAF's highly secret airborne early warning aircraft.
At the centre of the crisis is Washington's fear that an Iranian nuclear weapon could be used against Israel or US forces in the region, such as the American air base at Incirlik in Turkey.
The UN also believes that the production of a bomb could also lead to further destabilisation in the Middle East, which would result in Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia all developing nuclear weapons programmes.
A senior Foreign Office source said: "Monday's meeting will set out to address the consequences for Britain in the event of an attack against Iran. The CDS [chiefs of defence staff] will want to know what the impact will be on British interests in Iraq and Afghanistan which both border Iran. The CDS will then brief the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on their conclusions in the next few days.
"If Iran makes another strategic mistake, such as ignoring demands by the UN or future resolutions, then the thinking among the chiefs is that military action could be taken to bring an end to the crisis. The belief in some areas of Whitehall is that an attack is now all but inevitable.
There will be no invasion of Iran but the nuclear sites will be destroyed. This is not something that will happen imminently, maybe this year, maybe next year. Jack Straw is making exactly the same noises that the Government did in March 2003 when it spoke about the likelihood of a war in Iraq.
"Then the Government said the war was neither inevitable or imminent and then attacked."
The source said that the Israeli attack against Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 proved that a limited operation was the best military option.
The Israeli air force launched raids against the plant, which intelligence suggested was being used to develop a nuclear bomb for use against Israel.
Military chiefs also plan tomorrow to discuss fears that an attack within Iran will "unhinge" southern Iraq - where British troops are based - an area mainly populated by Shia Muslims who have strong political and religious links to Iran.
They are concerned that this could delay any withdrawal of troops this year or next. There could also be consequences for British and US troops in Afghanistan, which borders Iran.
The MoD meeting will address the economic issues that could arise if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president - who became the subject of international condemnation last year when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" - cuts off oil supplies to the West in reprisal.
There are thought to be at least eight known sites within Iran involved in the production of nuclear materials, although it is generally accepted that there are many more secret installations.
Iran has successfully tested a Fajr-3 missile that can reach Israel, avoiding radar and hitting several targets using multiple warheads, its military has confirmed.
Attacking Iran May Trigger Terrorism
TEHERAN - A top Iranian military official said Tuesday the country can now defend against any invasion originating from outside the region - a clear reference to the United States - as it tested a second new radar-avoiding missile.
The new surface-to-sea missile is equipped with remote-control and searching systems, state-run television reported. It said the new missile, called Kowsar after the name of a river in paradise, was a medium-range weapon that Iran had the capability to mass-produce. It also asserted that the Kowsar???s guidance system could not be scrambled, and that it had been designed to sink ships. Shortly after the test, the chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, warned that Iran was now able to ???confront any extra-regional invasion,??? referring to the United States without mentioning it by name. ???The missile command of the Guards??? naval force ... via positioning various types of surface-to-sea missiles, is able, while defending the coastlines and islands, to confront any extra-territorial invasion,??? the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Safavi as saying. Safavi also called for foreign forces to leave the region. The US 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, from where it patrols the Gulf. ???Iran wants durable peace in the Persian Gulf and it can???t be achieved without foreign forces and those which invaded Iraq leaving (the region),??? IRNA quoted Safavi as saying. The Tuesday test was the latest in a series during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military says are aimed at preparing the country???s defenses against the United States. On Friday, the country tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Since the war games began, the country also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes. The second torpedo, unveiled Monday, was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Gulf that is a vital corridor for oil supplies. That seemed designed to be a clear warning to the United States that Iran believes it has the capability to disable oil tankers moving through the Gulf, if it should so choose. The Guards, the elite branch of Iran???s military, have been holding their maneuvers - code-named the ???Great Prophet??? - since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces. ???Technology appears Russian-made??? But military analysts in Moscow said the high-speed torpedoes tested by Iran this week were likely Russian-built weapons and may have been acquired from China or the ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Judging by the fuzzy television pictures showing the tests, the missiles appeared very similar to the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, the world???s fastest known underwater missile, they said. Ruslan Pukhov, an expert with the Center for Strategic Analysis and Technologies, said that he believed the Shkval technology was too sophisticated for the Iranians to produce themselves. Pukhov noted that the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan once had a Soviet top-secret torpedo and naval testing center located on the remote mountain lake, Issyk Kul. He said in the mid-1990s, in the turmoil that followed the Soviet breakup, Kyrgyz authorities had sold Shkvals to the Chinese, a major importer of Iranian oil. Others experts said it would be easy to gather up sunken torpedoes used in tests in Issyk Kul and develop the technology with the help of Russian scientists who had gone to Iran in search of well-paying jobs. ???(Iran???s) technology is developing very fast. They could get enough brains and the funds to build them on their own,??? said Vadim Kozyulin, an arms expert with the PIR Center, an independent Moscow arms proliferation think tank. Others have questioned just how radar-evading the missiles are. Iran???s radars are not as advanced as those of Israel, for example - meaning that perhaps the new weapons can avoid the radar that Iran has access to, but not more advanced types. The United States said Monday - after the second torpedo test - that while Iran may have made ???some strides??? in its military, it is likely to be exaggerating its capabilities. Nevertheless, the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States amid heightened tensions over Iran???s nuclear program. On Tuesday, state-run television also said the elite Revolutionary Guards had tested what it called a ???super modern flying boat??? capable of evading radar. TV showed a brief clip of the boat???s launch. ???Due to its advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can detect it. It can lift out of the water,??? the television said. It said the boat was ???all Iranian-made and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving.??? The television showed the boat, looking like an aircraft, taking off from the sea and flying low over the surface of the water. It said the craft could fly with a speed of 100 nautical miles per hour. Iran said the torpedo tests were conducted on Sunday and Monday. The torpedo - called a ???Hoot,??? or ???whale??? - is able to move at up to 223 mph, too fast for any enemy ship to elude. Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers. Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.
The new surface-to-sea missile is equipped with remote-control and searching systems, state-run television reported. It said the new missile, called Kowsar after the name of a river in paradise, was a medium-range weapon that Iran had the capability to mass-produce.
It also asserted that the Kowsar???s guidance system could not be scrambled, and that it had been designed to sink ships.
Shortly after the test, the chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, warned that Iran was now able to ???confront any extra-regional invasion,??? referring to the United States without mentioning it by name.
???The missile command of the Guards??? naval force ... via positioning various types of surface-to-sea missiles, is able, while defending the coastlines and islands, to confront any extra-territorial invasion,??? the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Safavi as saying.
Safavi also called for foreign forces to leave the region. The US 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, from where it patrols the Gulf.
???Iran wants durable peace in the Persian Gulf and it can???t be achieved without foreign forces and those which invaded Iraq leaving (the region),??? IRNA quoted Safavi as saying.
The Tuesday test was the latest in a series during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military says are aimed at preparing the country???s defenses against the United States.
On Friday, the country tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Since the war games began, the country also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes.
The second torpedo, unveiled Monday, was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Gulf that is a vital corridor for oil supplies. That seemed designed to be a clear warning to the United States that Iran believes it has the capability to disable oil tankers moving through the Gulf, if it should so choose.
The Guards, the elite branch of Iran???s military, have been holding their maneuvers - code-named the ???Great Prophet??? - since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.
But military analysts in Moscow said the high-speed torpedoes tested by Iran this week were likely Russian-built weapons and may have been acquired from China or the ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Judging by the fuzzy television pictures showing the tests, the missiles appeared very similar to the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, the world???s fastest known underwater missile, they said.
Ruslan Pukhov, an expert with the Center for Strategic Analysis and Technologies, said that he believed the Shkval technology was too sophisticated for the Iranians to produce themselves.
Pukhov noted that the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan once had a Soviet top-secret torpedo and naval testing center located on the remote mountain lake, Issyk Kul. He said in the mid-1990s, in the turmoil that followed the Soviet breakup, Kyrgyz authorities had sold Shkvals to the Chinese, a major importer of Iranian oil.
Others experts said it would be easy to gather up sunken torpedoes used in tests in Issyk Kul and develop the technology with the help of Russian scientists who had gone to Iran in search of well-paying jobs.
???(Iran???s) technology is developing very fast. They could get enough brains and the funds to build them on their own,??? said Vadim Kozyulin, an arms expert with the PIR Center, an independent Moscow arms proliferation think tank.
Others have questioned just how radar-evading the missiles are. Iran???s radars are not as advanced as those of Israel, for example - meaning that perhaps the new weapons can avoid the radar that Iran has access to, but not more advanced types.
The United States said Monday - after the second torpedo test - that while Iran may have made ???some strides??? in its military, it is likely to be exaggerating its capabilities.
Nevertheless, the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States amid heightened tensions over Iran???s nuclear program.
On Tuesday, state-run television also said the elite Revolutionary Guards had tested what it called a ???super modern flying boat??? capable of evading radar. TV showed a brief clip of the boat???s launch.
???Due to its advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can detect it. It can lift out of the water,??? the television said. It said the boat was ???all Iranian-made and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving.???
The television showed the boat, looking like an aircraft, taking off from the sea and flying low over the surface of the water. It said the craft could fly with a speed of 100 nautical miles per hour.
Iran said the torpedo tests were conducted on Sunday and Monday. The torpedo - called a ???Hoot,??? or ???whale??? - is able to move at up to 223 mph, too fast for any enemy ship to elude.
Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.