Any decision by Israel about a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities remains “very far away,” Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday as tension rose between Iran and the West.
“We don’t have a decision to go forward with these things. We don’t have a decision or a date for taking such a decision. This whole thing is very far away,” Barak told army radio. Washington has been spearheading a campaign for much tougher sanctions against the Iranian economy in a bid to rein in a nuclear drive that Israel and many Western governments believe is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
But Israel does not believe Iran has yet taken the decision to begin producing a nuclear warhead, Barak said. “The Iranians have not ended the oversight exercised by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.
“They haven’t done that because they know it would constitute proof of the military nature of their nuclear programme and that would provoke stronger international sanctions or other types of action against their country.” Israel, which has the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, has said an Iranian nuclear weapons capability would pose an intolerable threat to the Jewish state, and has not ruled out military action to prevent it from becoming a reality.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned any strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe” which would have the “severest consequences.” “As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” Lavrov said.
Reports have suggested a divide between Israel and Washington on the question of military action against Iran, with the United States reportedly pressuring the Jewish state to hold back. But Barak, speaking on the eve of a visit by top US military chief Martin Dempsey, denied Israel was facing US pressure.
“The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is not coming with a view to putting pressure of the state of Israel,” he said.
