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Israel will attack Iran 'only as last resort'
Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Monday March 14, 2005
The Guardian
Israel will only take military action against Iran as "a very last resort" to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons, Ephraim Sneh, a member of the Israeli parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee, said yesterday.
He was speaking after a report in the Sunday Times claimed that the inner cabinet of the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, last month gave "initial authorisation" for a combined air and ground attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.
Mr Sneh told Israel's Army Radio: "The Iranian threat is an existential threat to the state of Israel. Military action is the very last resort.
"We have to ensure that other steps, diplomatic steps, are carried out first. Here the United States plays a leading role and I hope it will fulfil it."
The Israeli vice-prime minister, Shimon Peres, when asked before yesterday's cabinet meeting if Israel planned a strike against Iran, replied: "I don't think so."
The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, warned in London last month that time was running out and Iran could have a uranium enrichment capability - the key to building a nuclear weapon - within six months. The US and European assessments are that it will take Iran longer than this.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes.
Three EU governments - Britain, France and Germany - have been engaged in diplomatic negotiations with Iran for the last three months. The talks broke up last week with out a deal but are due to resume on March 23.
The EU persuaded the US, which is sceptical about negotiations, to offer economic concessions in return for Iran abandoning its nuclear programme. The EU and the US say that Iran, which is rich in fossil fuels, has no need of a civilian nuclear programme.
The US economic concessions include withdrawing Washington's opposition to Iran joining the World Trade Organisation.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said yesterday the abandonment of Iran's civilian nuclear programme, which does not contravene any international treaties, was out of the question.
He said the negotiations with the Europeans were "difficult" but far from over.
