Israel's PM Says That All Options Are On Table For Iran

Can Tran January 15, 2008

At a closed meeting of the parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he had issued the warning that the state of Israel will not accept Iran possessing any nuclear weapons. However, Iran has always insisted that the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

A recently released United States intelligence report concluded that Iran’s nuclear weapons program was suspended in 2003. But, Israel continues to give warning that it is still Iran’s goal to get nuclear weapons.

Iran is considered a threat to Israel due to suspicions over the nuclear program and the long-range capability of missions. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had repeatedly called for the state of Israel to be wiped off the map. There is also evidence about Iran funding extremist anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

Olmert warned saying, “Israel clearly will not reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran,” and adding, “All options that prevent Iran from gaining nuclear capabilities are legitimate within the context of how to grapple with this matter.”

For over a decade, Israel warned about Iran’s nuclear program.

According to Meir Javedanfar, an Iran analyst based in Israel, he said Olmert did not rule out a military option as an effort to increase the importance of a diplomatic solution.

“I think this is Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s way of making sure that the international community stays alert on the Iranian nuclear issues,” Javedanfar explains. He adds: “The concern in Israel is that after the (U.S.) report, the world is going to sit and watch Iran continue with its nuclear weapons program.”

Iran has not abandoned its enrichment of uranium despite two rounds of sanctions by the United Nations.