Ehud Barak warns Iran of possible Israeli strike on nuclear facilities
source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6729276.ece
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With the US Defence Secretary standing at his side, Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defence Minister, today warned Iran that a military strike on its nuclear facilities was still an option.
“We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position but we cannot dictate it to anyone,” Mr Barak said at a press conference with Robert Gates in Jerusalem.
The renewed threat of military action came a day after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, told Iran that its pursuit of nuclear ambitions was “futile”.
Israel recently sent warships and a submarine through the Suez Canal in what was widely interpreted as a flexing of muscles toward the Iranian regime, still struggling to handle the fallout from disputed elections last month.
Mr Barak, a seasoned army general, said that diplomatic initiatives, including tough sanctions, should be tried before a military option. Israeli officials sense that the US willingness to engage Iran in dialogue, which had so worried the new right-wing government before the elections, has waned since Tehran’s crackdown on reformist demonstrations.
Mr Gates’s visit was part of an important diplomatic drive by the Administration of President Barack Obama to move the stalled Middle East process forward. The Defence Secretary arrived hard on the heels of the regional envoy, George Mitchell, who flew in after meeting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, with whom he said he held frank and constructive talks.
He will be followed this week by James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and Dennis Ross, a senior adviser on the region. The United States is pushing for a regional settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and hoping to secure recognition of Israel by the Arab world in return for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
“We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position but we cannot dictate it to anyone,” Mr Barak said at a press conference with Robert Gates in Jerusalem.
The renewed threat of military action came a day after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, told Iran that its pursuit of nuclear ambitions was “futile”.
Israel recently sent warships and a submarine through the Suez Canal in what was widely interpreted as a flexing of muscles toward the Iranian regime, still struggling to handle the fallout from disputed elections last month.
Mr Barak, a seasoned army general, said that diplomatic initiatives, including tough sanctions, should be tried before a military option. Israeli officials sense that the US willingness to engage Iran in dialogue, which had so worried the new right-wing government before the elections, has waned since Tehran’s crackdown on reformist demonstrations.
Mr Gates’s visit was part of an important diplomatic drive by the Administration of President Barack Obama to move the stalled Middle East process forward. The Defence Secretary arrived hard on the heels of the regional envoy, George Mitchell, who flew in after meeting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, with whom he said he held frank and constructive talks.
He will be followed this week by James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and Dennis Ross, a senior adviser on the region. The United States is pushing for a regional settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and hoping to secure recognition of Israel by the Arab world in return for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
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freecrack
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wtf highroller does gaza have to do with irans nuclear program. if adam sandler punched some papparazzi you would paste and clip it to current with the banner jewish aggression spreads to U.S. and them paste schitzophrenic gaza shit to it. im sorry are u schitzo if so that was rude i apalogize, i didnt mean to degrade schitzophrenics and thier plight.
- 2 years ago
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freecrack
