United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was in Israel this week to talk with Israeli leaders about Iran’s nuclear program. Now the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot is reporting that Panetta shared America’s contingency plan in case talks with Iran fail to halt its nuclear program.

Panetta may have shared the plan to assuage Israeli leaders’ concerns that the United States is putting undue confidence in the efficacy of sanctions.

The plan would reportedly be put into effect only in one and a half years. Israeli leaders have indicated that Israel may pursue a military strike much sooner – possibly in the next three months.

Experts believe that a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would postpone the country’s nuclear program by at least five years, and possibly up to a decade.

The plan published Friday is a two-stage operation, in which warplanes launched from the Strait of Hormuz strike first. The second stage includes the use of bunker-buster missiles. (IsraelNationalNews © 2011 08/03/12)