GAZA (NNN-KUNA): Israel would not be able to halt Iran's reported quest for atomic weapons with a single strike, Ynet news reported on Monday.Ynet news quoted a senior Israeli defense official saying "We're not talking about Iraq or Syria where one strike would derail a program," adding, "With Iran it's a different project. There is no one silver bullet you can hit and that's over."
The defense official, who in line with Israeli army guidelines declined to be identified, mentioned Iran during a review of the security situation in the Middle East in a briefing to foreign reporters.
Israel and the West suspect Iran is trying to use its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons, a charge denied by Tehran which says it wants to generate electricity.
Both Israel and the United States have hinted they might consider taking military action as a last resort to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Israeli leaders have urged the United States and other Western countries to present Tehran with a credible military threat to back up economic sanctions already in place.
The official said the United States stood a better chance of forcing Iran to change its mind over its nuclear program than Israel.
"With all respect to Israel ... the greatest fear of the (Iranian) regime is the USA. There is no question about it." Some analysts say the likelihood of an imminent Israeli war with Iran has ebbed, thanks to the perceived success of political pressure on Tehran, Ynet added.
Recent Israeli estimates do not show Iran developing nuclear weapons before 2015.
-NNN-KUNA
0 comments:
Post a Comment