Clash with Iran could see use of huge, new U.S. bomb
By msnbc.com news services
Updated at 12:45 p.m., ET: WASHINGTON -- A 30,000-pound bunker buster bomb designed to smash through some 200 feet of concrete before exploding is a "great weapon" that could be used by U.S. forces in a clash with Iran over its nuclear program, an Air Force general said on Thursday.
Israel stepped in line, asking the United States for the advanced bombs and refueling planes that could aid an Israeli strike on Tehran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official told Reuters on Thursday.
"Such a request was made" around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, the official said, confirming media reports.
But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue, played down as "unrealistic" reports that the United States would condition supplying the hardware on Israel promising not to attack Iran this year.
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