JERUSALEM: Israel has not given up the option of a military response to Tehran’s nuclear program, senior officials said on Monday, after Russia’s president said his Israeli counterpart assured him it would not attack Iran.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was asked by Reuters if that comment by Israeli President Shimon Peres, as reported on Sunday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, was a guarantee there would be no Israeli strike on Iran.
Ayalon replied: “It is certainly not a guarantee. I don’t think that, with all due respect, the Russian president is authorized to speak for Israel and certainly we have not taken any option off the table.”
Echoing that, the chief of staff of Israel’s armed forces, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, later told Army Radio when pressed on whether Israel could attack Iran: “Israel has the right to defend itself and all options are on the table.”
He said a nuclear Iran would be a threat to the Middle East and “the entire free world” as well as the Jewish state.
“We all understand that the best way of coping is through international sanctions. I hope that Iran will understand this. I think that if not, Israel has the right to defend itself, and all options are open. The IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) working premise is that we have to be prepared for that possibility, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
A Kremlin transcript of an interview Medvedev gave to CNN last Tuesday quoted him as saying that an attack on Iran would lead to “a humanitarian disaster” and risk provoking retaliation against Israel that would also affect other nations.
“But my Israeli colleagues told me that they were not planning to act in this way and I trust them,” Medvedev added.
“Israeli President Peres said something important for us all: ‘Israel does not plan to launch any strikes on Iran, we are a peaceful country and we will not do this,’” Medvedev said.
Russia plays a role in the standoff between Israel and Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made an unannounced visit to Moscow this month, has been keen that Russia not sell anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran and also that Moscow support international sanctions against Iran.
