Political analysts believe the United States will mount a strike on Iran's nuclear and oil facilities within the next two months. The attack is expected to be carried out from the Gulf by aircraft carriers. Patriot missile batteries will be used to ensure any Iranian retaliatory strikes do not find their targets. As has been reported previously, the date for the intended strike according to these sources is before April of this year, or at the latest, March 07. A top Russian diplomat had already speculated that the 28th of March was the date set by the US for an Iranian strike. He said it was also known how much the war would cost.

Quote: "According to the source, Vice President Dick Cheney highlighted the threat posed by Iran to not only Saudi Arabia but the whole region. "Tehran is not playing politics. Iranian leaders are using their country's religious influence to support the aggressive regime's ambition to expand," the source quoted Dick Cheney as saying. Indicating participants of the meeting agreed to impose restrictions on the ambitions of Iranian regime before April 2007 without exposing other countries in the region to any danger, the source said "they have chosen April as British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said it will be the last month in office for him. The United States has to take action against Iran and Syria before April 2007."

This news comes as the United States has given the go ahead for a second US aircraft carrier to proceed to the Gulf. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says the move is intended as a show of force for Iran, a response to the President's "negative" politics. The US has stated the aircraft carriers could also be used to support the efforts in Somalia, Lebanon, Afghanistan or Iraq. But I believe the US wouldn't send the ships unless they thought there was a good chance they would need them.

Quote: "A second US aircraft carrier will arrive in the Middle East in about a month, a US Navy official said Tuesday, the first time since the US-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region. The increase in US forces is a show of strength by Washington in the face of Iran's growing regional assertiveness and a perception among US adversaries that the United States is vulnerable in Iraq, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday. The USS John C. Stennis is scheduled to sail Tuesday from its homeport of Bremerton, Washington.

Earlier in the month it was reported that Israel also had substantial plans for dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat.

Source Global Research, Jerusalem Post