Israel's military chief says he believes Iranian leaders are "rational" those that will hold back from building a nuclear weapon, an assessment compared with the Israeli prime minister's more pessimistic view.
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz published Wednesday, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz says Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "may be creating a huge mistake" if he decides to construct an atomic bomb. Gantz then says "i don't think he'll would like to go the additional mile" and describes the Iranian leadership as "very rational."
IRAN'S LEADERS: RATIONAL OR NOT?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he does not "bet the safety of the arena on Iran's rational behavior" because, in his view, that nation is led by a "militant Islamic regime" which could "put their ideology before their survival." He was speaking in an interview with U.S. television channel CNN.
Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful, denying Israeli and Western accusations that it's far secretly developing a nuclear weapon capability under cover of a civilian energy program.
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence and refuses to rule out military action to stop that threat from materializing. But, past and present Israeli officials have engaged in vigorous debate about whether Iran would move from developing to building a nuclear bomb and when Israel should take pre-emptive action.
CONTRASTING VIEW ON SANCTIONS
In another assessment contrasting with Israel's prime minister, General Gantz told Haaretz that international pressure on Iran to forestall sensitive nuclear work is "starting to bear fruit," both diplomatically and economically. Earlier, Mr. Netanyahu said sanctions are "certainly taking a bite out of the Iranian economy." But, he said Iran has not rolled back or stopped its nuclear program "one iota."
The head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security told VOA that he doesn't see General Gantz' remarks as showing a disagreement within the Israeli leadership about Iran. ISIS President David Albright said the general's prediction that Iran "won't would like to go the additional mile" is basically a reiteration of Israel's warning to Tehran to not take the overall step of establishing a nuclear bomb.
In the Haaretz interview, Gantz said he "agrees" that a nuclear weapon "capability within the hands of Islamic fundamentalists ... is dangerous" and he's preparing for possible military action to handle that danger "in a reputable manner."
'UNANIMITY' IN ISRAELI LEADERSHIP
Albright said differences that seem in Israeli leaders' statements "probably don't mean greatly because finally there's unanimity within the Israeli government that Iran is looking for nuclear weapons." He said concerns expressed by some Israeli officials about serious consequences of striking Iran don't mean they'll refuse to hold out such an attack if the order comes from the head.
Albright also said he believes Israel is not going to launch a strike before assessing the impact of the most recent international sanctions on Iran's behavior. He noted that an european ban on Iranian oil imports doesn't fully take effect until July.
Albright said he thinks Israel will also wait to look if that pressure "leads Iran to make meaningful concessions" in negotiations with world powers.
Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, referred to as the P5 + 1, met in Turkey earlier this month for his or her first talks at the Iranian nuclear dispute in additional than a year. Both sides agreed to conduct another round of talks in Baghdad next month.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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