Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday that Israel never told the US it would suspend its plans to attack Iran while talks over Iran’s nuclear program were being held.
Barak added that, in his opinion, a diplomatic compromise with Iran was a waste of “precious time.” His view on this matter appears radically different from the official US idea on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear plans.
“We are not committing to anything,” Barak told Israel’s Army Radio. “The dialogue with the Americans is both direct and open.”
Israel has declared that it would not permit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, pointing to Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, as well as Iran’s support for terrorists and its manufacturing of missiles that can reach Israel.
The US prefers diplomacy and economic sanctions over a military attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. Diplomats from the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany met with Iran in Istanbul last weekend for talks on the latter’s nuclear ambitions, and all sides agreed to meet again on May 23 in Baghdad.