Israel’s finest soldiers had been flying for several hours before the assault helicopters reached their target — the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, in southern Iran. Most of the men from the Shaldag battalion were dressed in the uniform of the Iranian Pasdaran militia, while others wore Israeli army kit and carried the standard issue M4A1 carbine rifle fitted with Trijicon Reflex sights.

As the helicopters dropped low over the desert, the commandos adjusted their night vision equipment. At the back of one craft two large dogs from the Oketz unit strained against tightly held leashes. Close by were packs of explosives that would be strapped to them.

As the choppers landed several miles from the target, the soldiers spilt out and ran to lorries hidden by Mossad agents. The Oketz men strapped the bombs to the dogs.

As the lorries approached a dimly lit installation minutes later, snipers picked off seven guards at its entrance. The trucks thundered through the gates and headed for the gas centrifuges used to generate weapons-grade uranium.

The soldiers fanned out, shooting and planting explosives. The dogs were sent down narrow tunnels leading deep into the bowels of the complex.

For about 10 minutes nothing happened. The lorries had cleared the plant when a series of explosions was heard underground. Moments later, Israeli F-15 jets screamed in, dropping bunker-busting bombs.

The attack proceeded flawlessly, with only one reservation. This was not the real Natanz plant, just a mock-up in Israel’s Negev desert.

For the past few months, elite Israeli commandos have been training for an assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities. One more full rehearsal has been scheduled for next month, said senior Israeli intelligence sources last week.

The news that Israel is planning unilateral action to end what it considers an imminent Iranian nuclear threat comes as American and European diplomats are announcing new initiatives for negotiation with Tehran.

Although publicly committed to the diplomatic effort, Israeli officials say the “point of no return” will come later this year when they calculate Iran will be in a position to start processing uranium. They say Ariel Sharon’s inner cabinet has decided to act alone if the impasse has not been broken.

“If all efforts to persuade Iran to drop its plans to produce nuclear weapons should fail, the US administration will authorise Israel to attack,” said one Israeli security source.

So in the tradition of Israeli military adventurism — the honour roll includes the destruction of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 and the raid on Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976 — Jerusalem is preparing for another daring strike.

It is a move which, if carried out, might scupper President George W Bush’s Middle East peace plans and unleash the full force of Iran’s military might against Israel and Jewish interests around the globe.

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