25 years on, could Israel launch another nuclear reactor raid?

Twenty five years ago, eight Israeli F-16 fighters skimmed Iraq's desert floor to avoid radar, pulled up sharply as they approached Baghdad and dived at the Osirak nuclear reactor just south of the city.

One pilot missed the target but the seven others put their two 900kg bombs through the reactor's dome, derailing Saddam Hussein's plan for producing nuclear weapons.

The raid on June 7, 1981 figures large in the thinking of those contemplating options in the growing confrontation between the west and Tehran.

As bold as the attack was, the political decision to launch it may have been even bolder, reflecting the situation facing decision-makers in Washington today.

The head of the Israeli Mossad and the head of military intelligence both opposed the attack, as did many cabinet members. They argued that even with the reactor, it was far from certain that Iraqi scientists could produce a bomb. However, then prime minister Menahem Begin was determined that Hussein would not acquire weapons of mass destruction that could endanger Israel's existence.

The planes took off from an air base in northeastern Sinai. For an hour, they flew at 30 metres over the vast emptiness of the Saudi and Iraqi deserts on a route mapped by the mission's navigator, Captain Ilan Ramon.