Israeli gov’t emphasizes diplomatic solution to Iranian nuclear threat

By Xinhua,

Tel Aviv, Israel : An Israeli official expressed here Monday that the international community should upgrade the diplomatic efforts to stop Iranian nuclear program.


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“Israel itself cannot make the diplomacy work … Only the diplomacy is serious, can the international sanction succeed,” Mark Regev, spokesman of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told Xinhua during a policy briefing.

However, Regev reiterated that “all options are on the table” to stop Iran’s nuclear ambition, saying that “Israel can deal effectively with the threat that we face.”

Israel, considering Iran its main enemy, has been accusing Iran of continually supplying Gaza-based Hamas with fund and training, as well as helping Hezbollah’s rearmament in Lebanon.

“Iranian nuclear threat is simply unacceptable and intolerable” and “it is a threat not only to Israel, but also to the region and the world,” the spokesman stressed.

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz predicted recently Iran would be able to enrich uranium by next year and would be able to make weapons-grade materials by 2010.

His comments came shortly before a deadline imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council, which gave Iran two weeks since July 19 to respond to their offer to hold off further sanctions in return for halting any expansion of its nuclear work.

Iran and the West have been engaged in dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. Tehran claims it is enriching uranium to produce new power, while the West believes it is developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program if it is deemed necessary, but he has said that diplomatic solutions should be executed to keep Tehran from becoming a nuclear power.

In 1981, Israel destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in a surprise air attack.

Commenting on the peace negotiations with Palestinians, Regev said Israel would make efforts to reach a historic compromise on some core issues, such as the status of Jerusalem.

“The negotiation teams of both sides are narrowing the gaps,” he added.

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