All options against Iran must be prepared, says Israel Army Chief

JERUSALEM  - The Israeli army chief of staff has said in Washington that all options must be prepared to counter Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, in remarks relayed on Thursday.
“We are all united over the understanding that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon and that there is no doubt that diplomacy must be given priority,” Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi said on Israeli public radio.
“But we all realise, both the Americans and us, that all options must be prepared,” said the chief of staff, who is on his first visit to Washington since taking office last year.
Ashkenazi has held talks with military top brass as well as Vice-President Dick Cheney, and was due to hold talks on Thursday with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen.
Israel and the United States suspect that Iran’s nuclear drive is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim vehemently denied by Tehran, which says its programme is designed solely for civilian use.Although the two close allies continue to say diplomatic and economic sanctions could still dissuade Iran from continuing its programme, Israel and the United States have refused to rule out military action.
Meanwhile, Moscow opposes setting a deadline for Iran to respond to an offer made by six mediator countries in strained nuclear talks, Russia’s Foreign Minister was quoted as saying Thursday.
“There should be no artificial limits, either in the sense of some kind of deadline, like ‘tomorrow or never’, or in the endless dragging out of the process,” Lavrov told Russian journalists in Singapore, Interfax news agency reported.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tehran had two weeks to respond seriously to a proposal made by the six powers or else face “punitive measures”.“I think such political statements, which some negotiating parties may hope will stimulate someone to do something, should really be weighed against reality,” Lavrov was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Under the proposal, Tehran would stop adding uranium-enriching centrifuges and in return face no further sanctions - the so-called “freeze-for-freeze” approach. Iran has rejected the offer.
The offer was made at a meeting of six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - in Geneva on Saturday.