Is Israel Preparing to Attack Iran?
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that a strike on Iran might become necessary to contain its nuclear-ambitious foe.
Barak told Israel Radio that although the country does not want to attack Iran, that military action would be a “last resort” option, it might become a reality if pushed hard enough.
“We don’t need unnecessary wars. But we definitely might be put to the test,” he said.
Barak did say that a strike would not come any time soon. “We have no intention of acting for the moment,” he told the radio station.
“Our position has not changed on three points: a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, we are determined to stop that and all options are on the table,” he added.
The comments from Barak come only weeks after the defense minister said the small nuclear-armed country would not rule out carrying out preemptive strikes against its neighbor.
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear program have reached an all-time high since the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report implicating Iran in bomb building.
Following the release of the report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to thwart “Iran’s race to arm itself with a nuclear weapon.”
Netanyahu said that there would be two options to halting Iran’s program – crippling sanctions or credible military action.
The United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have all put pressure on Iran by expanding sanctions against the country.
The pressure led to protests breaking out at the British Embassy in Tehran.
The European Union has tightened sanctions against Iran since the breakout of the protests and storming of the embassy by freezing assets and imposing travel bans on officials and companies, but did not place an embargo on Iranian oil purchases due to pressure from China and Greece.
