Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the West to convince Tehran that a military strike against Iran over its controversial nuclear program is a real option, the Haaretz newspaper said.
Speaking at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in New Orleans on Monday, Netanyahu said that economic and diplomatic sanctions against Iran had failed, and Tehran would only halt its drive to develop nuclear weapons if it believed that it faced a real possibility of military action.
"The simple paradox is this — if the international community led by the United States hopes to stop Iran's nuclear program without resorting to military action, it will have to convince Iran that it is prepared to take such action," Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Israel, along with major Western powers, suspects Iran of building nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear program, an accusation Tehran strongly denies.
The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions.
Iran is currently under four sets of UN sanctions over its nuclear program.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday that the organization still did not have enough evidence to confirm that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.
Last week, Israel's military intelligence chief said Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb and soon will have enough to produce a second.
TEL AVIV, November 9 (RIA Novosti)
