Natanz: The Final Notice

NATANZ: The Final Notice

By: Jason Kramer

Copyright ©: Final Notice Publications, Incorporated, 2012

Published by Final Notice Publications, Inc. at Smashwords

ISBN: 9781476288987

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, businesses, organizations and incidents are fictitious. Any similarity to current events, situations, people or places is purely coincidental or a figment of the author’s imagination.

NATANZ: The Final Notice

By: Jason Kramer

To what lengths will the Islamic Republic of Iran go to protect their Nuclear Enrichment Program?

A private chartered business jet carrying 24 Israeli engineers is intercepted over the Saudi Arabian desert and forced to land at an Iranian military airfield. Who are these engineers and what are the Iranians planning to do with them? How will the Israeli and the American governments respond to this latest attempt by the Iranians to pursue their nuclear ambitions?

Lt. Colonel Benjamin Raymond of the elite Israeli Defense Force’s Sayeret Maglan Unit has been assigned the job of rescuing these engineers. He and his team of Israeli Special Forces commandos will have to infiltrate deep into enemy territory to the nuclear facility at Natanz, Iran. How will the other Persian Gulf countries in the region respond?

Will this attempt by the Iranian Supreme National Security Council to protect their nuclear facilities succeed or will this be the Final Notice that will be given to the Iranians?

Prologue:

CBSNEWS.com: July 08, 2008

Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack. The exercise was conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world’s oil passes. Iran’s development of ballistic missiles is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with Iran’s obligations to the world, said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Washington Times: July 6, 2010

The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the benefits of bombing Iran’s nuclear program outweigh the short term costs such an attack would impose.

In unusually blunt remarks, Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba publicly endorsed the use of the military option for countering Iran’s nuclear program, if sanctions fail to stop the country’s quest for nuclear weapons.

I think that it is a cost-benefit analysis, Mr. al-Otaiba said. I think despite the large amount of trade we do with Iran, which is close to $12 billion…there will be consequences, there will be backlash and there will be problems with people protesting and rioting and very unhappy that there is an outside force attacking a Muslim country; that is going to happen no matter what.

If you are asking me, Am I willing to live with that versus living with a nuclear Iran? My answer is still the same: ‘We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.’ I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the UAE."

Mr. al-Otaiba made his comments in response to a question after a public interview session with The Atlantic magazine at the Aspen Ideas Festival, here. They echo those of some Arab diplomats who have said similar things in private to their American counterparts but never this bluntly in public.

Haaretz.com: 02-02-2012 by Amos Harel

Some 200,000 missiles aimed consistently at Israel, top IDF officer says…Head of military intelligence Aviv Kochavi reiterates army estimates that Iran could further enrich that uranium it already has to create 4 atomic bombs.

Jehovah God’s message to Joshua before entering the Promise Land

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:7-9; NIV

Notice: This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, businesses, organizations, events, places and incidents are fictitious. Any similarity to current events, situations, locations or persons is purely a coincidence or a figment of the author’s imagination.

Chapter 1

Day 1: 1400Z: Sakhir Air Base: Kingdom of Bahrain

A6-FIN, cleared flight plan route, A791 KFA, UM691, Flight Level 360, squawk 2590. First Officer Scott Wilson reads back the route clearance to the Sakhir Air Base Ground Control as Israeli Security Officer Captain Yosef Rabin observes the preflight procedures.

Captain, show me the route on the MAP display, asks Captain Rabin. Captain Frank Pierce pulls up the flight plan route on the instrument panel’s multi-function display unit navigation page. Captain Pierce has been flying this route since it began six months ago and has been in the Middle East for three years after he took an early retirement from a major US airline.

Previous to his airline career, Captain Pierce served as a Major in the United States Air Force. He ended his Air Force career, flying the E-3C AWACS, so he is very familiar with this part of the world. He was offered a pilot position with the airlines and left the Air Force to pursue his lifelong dream.

When the economy declined after the terrorists’ attacks on September 11, 2001, in the United States, Captain Pierce flew for about six more years. He took his pension payout and left for the Middle East to do contract flying for a European jet charter company operating from the Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

Captain Pierce scrolls through the flight plan on the MAP display. The requested and planned flight plan route takes the Boeing Business Jet northwest over the Persian Gulf, west across Saudi Arabia to Cairo, Egypt and then northeast to Larneca, Cyprus. Yosef makes sure that the planned route avoids the airspace of Iraq, Syria and Jordan. OK, let me know if there are any changes as he picks up his backpack, pulls out the portable satellite telephone and returns to his seat in the cabin. The Cabin Attendant offers a cup of tea and a tray of dates as Yosef begins to dial his satellite phone.

Echo 21, ready for departure, route as briefed, ETA approximately four and a half hours from now, over, Yosef speaks into the sat phone. Control copies; have a safe flight. Yosef puts his satellite phone back into his backpack and relaxes in his seat as best as he can.

Yosef is a Captain in the Israeli Defense Force’s Sayeret Golani, a trained Special Forces commando. He has been assigned security of this round trip flight from Bahrain to Larneca, Cyprus. Yosef and his team have been in the Kingdom of Bahrain for six months. Their responsibilities are to ensure the safety of a team of Israeli aerospace engineers.

Tonight, he escorts this group from the residential compound on the US Naval Base to a private hangar at the Sakhir Air Base. A chartered private Boeing Business Jet aircraft transports the engineers to Larneca, Cyprus. No passports are stamped and no x-ray security checks are performed. These passengers do not exist and the flight appears to be a normal private chartered flight but these activities have not escaped the attention of some other interested parties in the region. These engineers have been working with United States military contractors to help build a new Theater Missile Defense System. This missile defense system is designed to help defend the United States Naval Support Activity base in Bahrain and the oil fields off shore in the Persian Gulf. The contractor would like the other Persian Gulf states to buy this system for their protection from an aerial attack from their enemies in the region. Its development has been watched closely by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

In Larneca, a special El Al Airlines flight will arrive at the same time to bring another group of engineers. Then it will take this group back to Tel Aviv to their families and friends.

Captain Pierce asks First Officer Wilson to request engine start-up and taxi clearance.

Chris calls Ground Control and says, Sakhir Ground, A6-FIN, request engine start-up and taxi clearance.

A6-FIN, start-up approved, taxi to the holding point K2 for Runway 17, via Kilo taxiway, Contact Tower at position K2, instructs the Ground Controller.

First Officer Wilson reads back the taxi clearance and performs the Before Engine Start-Up Checklist as Captain Pierce starts the Boeing’s General Electric CFM-56 turbofan engines.

The cabin attendant, Carol Thurman, comes to the flight deck and tells the Captain that the cabin is ready for take-off. Captain Pierce gives her the OK signal.

Captain Pierce begins the short taxi to position K2. After completing the Taxi Checklist, Chris informs the Tower Controller that they are fully ready for takeoff.

The Tower Controller replies, A6-FIN, cleared for takeoff, wind 130 at 10.

Captain Pierce advances the throttles and engages the autothrottles and announces, My flight controls.

The BBJ lifts off and climbs to three thousand feet. The Tower Controller says, A6-FIN, contact Bahrain Radar: 124.4.

First Officer Wilson checks in with Bahrain Radar, A6-FIN, maintaining altitude three thousand. The Bahrain Radar Controller issues a clearance to climb to Flight Level 150 and to contact Bahrain Control 120.9.

Outside the perimeter fence of the Bahrain military airbase on the street, a non-descript Toyota Hilux pickup truck starts its engine and leaves. Its occupant dials a local mobile telephone number to report the departure of the Boeing Business Jet.

The airplane has departed is the only message that is transmitted. The receiver of this message is located in an apartment in downtown Manama. He sends the same message to an untraceable internet mailbox. The person that receives this message is located in Tehran, Iran. He relays the message to his contacts in Larneca, Cyprus and to his superiors in the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

The MOIS, Russians, North Koreans and the Chinese have been monitoring the development of the new Arrows 3 (Theater Missile Defense System). The Arrows 3 was developed from the Arrows 2 by the Israeli Aircraft Industries with the support of the American government.

The Arrows 3 missile system is the latest development of a mobile tactical fire unit. It was developed to counter the threat of the ballistic missile development by rogue states. It will be used to shoot down medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. It uses a direct fragmentation warhead approach that intercepts exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric threats. This new upper tier weapon will be complemented with the Patriot (PAC-3) Missile System that is already in place at the US Naval Base in Bahrain. Most of the Persian Gulf States have already bought and deployed the Patriot. They need an upper tier missile system for a layered defensive shield.

Through its network of informants and agents in Bahrain and in Larneca, the Iranians have documented every flight that has transported the Israeli engineers from Bahrain and Larneca, Cyprus. Tensions in the area have risen due to the rhetoric that has come from the Israelis, the Americans and from certain Arab states in the Persian Gulf about the possibility of the Iranian development of nuclear weapons. Whether or not the possibility is valid or not, the perceived threat has got the region preparing for a confrontation of some sort. The Iranians have decided not to wait for an attack on their facilities.

1830Z: Larneca, Cyprus

The flight to Cyprus has progressed normally and lands in Larneca on time. It is directed to a remote parking stand where it is met by the local handler and Israeli security agents. The Boeing is unloaded, refueled, cleaned and a new group of engineers and their luggage is loaded. First Officer Wilson completes his exterior inspection and climbs back in his seat to prepare for the next leg back to Bahrain.

An hour and thirty minutes after landing, the flight crew receives a clearance for the reverse route from Larneca back to the Bahrain. Again, Captain Rabin verifies the route on the MAP display and checks in with his superiors in Tel Aviv.

It is half past midnight in Bahrain so the crew is starting to feel the effects of acute fatigue. The flight crews at the charter company do not like to fly these all night flights but they are a steady source of revenue.

The powerful General Electric engines are started and Captain Pierce taxis the aircraft to the holding position for