Israel Air Force Training For Strike In Iran

Israel is training for a scenario under which it might have to carry out an airstrike against Iran, the Israeli Ma'ariv daily reported. The Israel Air Force has been practising long-range flights during the past months to prepare for such a scenario, the daily said without citing a source for its report.The report, which Ma'ariv said it published after the military censor authorized it, added to a statement by US President George W Bush, who said this week in answer to a question whether he would rule out military action against Iran that "all options are on the table." In a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Tuesday, Bush, however, reiterated that diplomacy was the preferred option to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power.