Israel renewed a veiled threat to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities pre-emptively.
“We cannot resign ourselves to a nuclear-armed Iran,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in a briefing Monday. “All options are being considered.”
The Israeli prime minister’s remarks were the most forceful since a U.S. intelligence report late last year said Iran likely shelved its military nuclear program in 2003 – an assessment that was widely seen as ending any plans for pre-emptive strikes.
Like Olmert, President Bush has said Iran still poses a threat but voiced confidence in the effectiveness of Western sanctions in curbing the atomic ambitions of the Tehran regime.
Yediot Achronot reported that Israeli and U.S. officials will resume a strategic dialogue focused on Iran at the end of the month. Israel’s representative will be Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz; his U.S. counterpart will be State Department official Nicholas Burns.
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