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JERUSALEM — Washington is hoping for an response by September from Tehran to overtures on its controversial nuclear drive, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.
But the EU cautioned that the political turmoil in Iran would probably drag out the stand-off.
"The president is certainly anticipating or hoping for some kind of a response this fall, perhaps by the time of the UN General Assembly (in September)," Gates said at a press conference with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak in Jerusalem.
In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the current political
Originally posted by Ragnarok691
The use of nuclear weapons, no matter what scale is inevitable. It will happen, just a matter of when. Pakistan and India, North Korea and Japan, Iran and Isreal. We cannot rely on MAD with people who will die for their cause. Also, do not expect Putin to side with us in this. He is a hard liner and relations are only getting worse in that arena.
With the US Defence Secretary standing at his side, Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defence Minister, today warned Iran that a military strike on its nuclear facilities was still an option.
“We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position but we cannot dictate it to anyone,” Mr Barak said at a press conference with Robert Gates in Jerusalem.
The renewed threat of military action came a day after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, told Iran that its pursuit of nuclear ambitions was “futile”.
Israel recently sent warships and a submarine through the Suez Canal in what was widely interpreted as a flexing of muscles toward the Iranian regime, still struggling to handle the fallout from disputed elections last month.