http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/13/D8F3V3HG0.html
JERUSALEM
 

Israel on Friday urged the international community to threaten Iran with sanctions if it doesn't abandon its nuclear ambitions, following new threats from Tehran to block U.N. inspections of its atomic sites.

Israeli officials said they remain hopeful that diplomacy can end the crisis, but they warned a military strike led by others against Iranian nuclear facilities may be necessary.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the Iranian regime should be presented with a clear choice: "Either they totally cease their nuclear weapons program or they endanger their relationships with the entire organized international community."

"We believe the combination of fanatical ideology together with nuclear weaponry is a combination that no thinking person can feel comfortable with," Regev added.

The comments came a day after France, Britain and Germany _ backed by the United States _ said that nuclear talks with Iran had reached a dead end after more than two years of acrimonious negotiations and the issue should be referred to the Security Council.

With the support of Russia and China uncertain, however, they refrained from calling on the 15-nation council to impose sanctions and said they remained open to more talks.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., said Friday: "Obviously if Iran failed to comply, the Security Council would then consider sanctions." But he denied military action was being considered by Britain or the U.S.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed only at generating electricity, but the U.S., Israel and others say Tehran is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

Israeli officials think Tehran is closer to the "point of no return" in developing weapons than Western countries do, arguing that point is not when Iran might have a bomb, but when it might have the technology to produce the fissile component of nuclear warheads.

Israeli defense officials have said that once Iran resumes its enrichment of uranium, as it has announced it would do, it would be able to produce fissile materials in six to 12 months.

Other experts say Iran may be up to five years or more away from producing a nuclear weapon.

Israel considers Tehran to be its greatest threat. Recent statements by Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel's destruction and Russia's plans to sell Iran missiles and other defense systems valued at more than $1 billion have only fueled those fears.

Last month, Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said he did not believe diplomatic pressure would put a halt to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Still, Israeli officials have continued to say that international diplomatic pressure is the best way to end Iran's nuclear program, with military action considered only as a last resort. Last month, before his stroke, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel wouldn't lead the fight against the Islamic state's nuclear ambitions.

Israeli combat jets knocked out Iraq's unfinished nuclear reactor more than two decades ago in a lightning strike. But military experts have said a similar attack on Iran's nuclear project would be far more complex, because facilities are dispersed and some are hidden underground.

On Friday, Ran Cohena member of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, said Israel "definitely is not considering military action because it would only encourage radical (Islamic) groups to increase their power."

But another committee member, Ephraim Sneh, said while Israel is not preparing to carry out a unilateral military strike, "it doesn't mean it's not feasible."

Asked about the possibility of an attack on Iran, the British foreign secretary said, "I promise you I've never had a single discussion with anybody in the American administration about even the possibility of military action."

"This can only be resolved by peaceful means. Nobody is talking about invading Iran or taking military action," Straw added.