Barak renews Israel threats against Iran - Gayo Lues

Speaking during a graduation ceremony at the ministry’s National Security College on Wednesday, Barak said Israel might have to make “tough and crucial” decisions about its security, noting that the military option could be preferable to a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I am well aware of the difficulties involved in thwarting Iran’s attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said, Israel’s Ynet news agency reported.

“However, it is clear to me that without a doubt, dealing with the threat itself will be far more complicated, far more dangerous and far more costly in resources and human life,” he added.

The Israeli minister emphasized that diplomatic measures and economic sanctions imposed on Iran “are not enough to stop Iran’s nuclear program.”

Barak’s remarks came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that the Iranian nation will not give in to Western pressures and that the US-engineered sanctions on Iran will only make Iranian officials more determined to defend the nation’s rights.

“They explicitly say that by intensifying the pressure and the sanctions, they are seeking to force Iranian officials to reconsider their calculations. But in reality, we will not rethink our calculations, and we will continue to trod the path of the Iranian nation more resolutely,” the Leader stated.

The United States and Israel have repeatedly threatened Iran with a military option in a bid to force the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear energy program, which Washington and Tel Aviv claim has a military component.

Iran rejects the allegations of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

SF/GHN/MA