ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SETS 3 MONTHS AS DEADLINE TO HALT NUCLEAR PROGRAM
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.05.2009 22:15 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on
Tuesday that world powers should take action against Iran if it did
not curb its controversial nuclear program by August.
Israel, which says a nuclear-armed Iran would be a mortal threat,
has endorsed Western efforts to engage its arch-foe in talks. But
Israeli leaders have also hinted at pre-emptive military strikes if
they decide that diplomacy has failed.
"It is important that dialogue with Iran be limited in time, and if
after three months it is clear the Iranians are prevaricating and
not halting their nuclear program, the international community must
take active steps," an aide quoted Lieberman as telling Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a tour of Europe.
Other Israeli officials have said that the U.N. Security Council,
which has already passed sanctions against Iran, should consider
imposing more crippling measures.
Lieberman’s statement was the first time that the month-old government
of hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly
signaled a timeline for action against Iran.
Iran denies seeking nuclear arms and has so far shrugged off foreign
pressure. Six world powers led by the United States have invited it to
talks, but contacts have so far been limited, and Iran has continued
to insist it will not give up uranium enrichment, which it says is
for power generation.
Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic
arsenal, says the enrichment program could provide enough fissile
material for a bomb with months. American assessments say that
threshold may be years away, Reuters reported.