Special report: Palestine-Israel
Relations
Special Report: Iran Nuclear
Crisis
JERUSALEM, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak said Friday that the Jewish state is not ruling out any
option when it comes to dealing with Iran's nuclear program.
When meeting visiting U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, Barak was quoted by local daily The Jerusalem Post as saying
that Israel is "not taking any option off the table, and we don't recommend that
others take any option off the table."
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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (R) meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2008. Rice arrived in Israel Thursday for her 8th visit to the hot spot since Annapolis peace conference. The White House acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal before President George W. Bush leaves office in January.(Xinhua Photo/Yin Bogu)
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Israel
is convinced that Iran is still pursuing nuclear weapons, Barak said, insisting
that Iran is continuing to trick the world by means of its negotiations over the
monitoring of its nuclear activities, said the report.
The defense minister said he believed that leaders of
the free world are aware of these developments, which must be taken into account
in any future decision.
During the meeting with Rice, Barak referred to U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama's declaration that he would be prepared to engage
in dialogue with Iran, according to the report.
On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
said that Obama should not talk to Iran, for such dialogue could project
"weakness."
The United States, Israel and their Western allies
accuse Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its
nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L)
speaks at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni in Tel Aviv, Nov. 6, 2008.(Xinhua Photo/Pavel
Wolberg)
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