TEL AVIV, Israel – Israel's military chief of staff said yesterday he did not believe diplomatic pressure would put a halt to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"The fact that the Iranians are successful time after time in getting away from international pressure . . . encourages them to continue their nuclear project," Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz told foreign journalists in Tel Aviv. "I believe that the political means that are used by the Europeans and the U.S. to convince the Iranians to stop the project will not succeed."
Israel considers Iran its biggest threat and dismisses Tehran's statements that its nuclear program is peaceful.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, however, insisted that Israel was not spearheading efforts to block Iran from becoming a nuclear power, but reiterated, "We can't have a situation where Iran will become a nuclear power."
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the front-runner to head Israel's right-wing Likud Party ahead of a March 28 election, said yesterday that Israel should take "bold and courageous" action against its archfoe's nuclear program, similar to its 1981 airstrike on the main Iraqi atomic reactor.
Believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, Israel under Prime Minister Menachem Begin sent warplanes against the Iraqi reactor in Osiraq. Saddam Hussein's quest for nuclear arms was driven underground until U.N. inspectors uncovered a secret program a decade later.
Independent experts believe Israel, perhaps with U.S. support, could mount a similar strike against Iran, though its facilities are numerous, dispersed and well-defended.
Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, says its nuclear program is for energy needs only. It has vowed to retaliate against any attack.
"It must be understood that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear threat against Israel," Netanyahu said.
On Friday, Israel successfully tested its Arrow missile defense system against a missile similar to Iran's Shahab-3, which could be equipped with a nuclear warhead to reach Israel or several U.S. military installations in the Middle East.
Israeli concerns about Tehran's intentions – already heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in October that Israel must be "wiped off the map" – were compounded by media reports that Russia would sell Iran missiles and other defense systems valued at more than $1 billion.
A Russian government spokesman said Saturday that weapons sales to Iran are purely for defensive purposes, but did not comment on the reported details of the deal.
