Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The bpp can reveal.

To conduct surgical air strikes against Iran's nuclear programme, Israeli war planes would need to fly across Iraq. But to do so the Israeli military authorities in Tel Aviv need permission from the Pentagon.

A senior Israeli defence official said negotiations were now underway between the two countries for the US-led coalition in Iraq to provide an "air corridor" in the event of the Israeli government deciding on unilateral military action to prevent Teheran developing nuclear weapons.

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucially important," said the official, who asked not to be named.

"The only way to do this is to fly through US-controlled air space. If we don't sort these issues out now we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other."

Israel is no longer just beating the Zionist war drums - it is asking for a fly over  of NWO controled Iraq to bomb Iran on the pretext - most likely false - that Iran is developing nuclear weapons - remmeber the non-existent 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' Iraq was supposed to have?

Israel has mounted a major long-range military air exercise – involving more than 100 F15 and F16 fighters – as a rehearsal for a potential strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, American officials have indicated.

The fighters, along with refuelling tankers and helicopters able to rescue downed pilots, were mobilised during the first week of June over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in an exercise monitored by foreign intelligence agencies.

The tankers and helicopters flew 900 miles from their bases in Israel – roughly the same distance as that between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, the US officials said.

Israeli government officials declined to give details yesterday and referred inquiries to the statement by the Israeli military carried in yesterday's New York Times, which broke the story of the exercise. This said only that the Israeli Air Force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel".

Two weeks ago Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Transport Minister and a former military chief of staff and defence minister, became the first senior figure to suggest publicly that Israel might launch its own strike on Iran.