United States President George W. Bush refused Israel's request to buy and use American bunker busting bombs against Iran's nuclear reactor, according to The New York Times. The president also reportedly approved secret sabotage operations against Tehran.
The Times stated that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked the United States last June for the bombs and for permission to use American air space in Iraq to attack Iran. The request prompted the Bush administration to share intelligence with Israel on American operations aimed at sabotaging the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
Israel made the request after an American intelligence report concluded that Iran has suspended its uranium enrichment program. Israel strongly disagreed with the report and presented American officials with proof that it was incorrect.
President Bush, acting on advice from his team, decided that bombing the reactor would not knock it out and also could ignite an all-out war in the Middle East.
The American government has not commented on the report, but the Times article was based on 15 months of interviews and research. Journalist David Sanger said that he omitted several details about the covert operations at the request of intelligence and security officials. The sabotage operations include undermining electric and computer systems and infiltrating the supply of nuclear materials.
Iran recently has reported the arrest of several alleged Israel spies and executed one Iranian Jew who was convicted of trying to damage computer systems. An explosion at an unidentified nuclear facility also was reported recently.
The Times quoted one American official as dismissing the sabotage operations as "experiments" and that it is too late to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.