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U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, right, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, center, accompanied by President George W. Bush, during Sharon's visit to the President Bush's ranch in Texas (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 13, 2005 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon discussed with Bush administration officials concerns that leaders in both countries have about Iran's purported nuclear threat, an Israeli official says.
Discussing the sensitive talks on grounds of anonymity, the official said Sharon exchanged views on the situation in Iran Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney after he discussed developments in both Iran and Lebanon with editors attending the American Society of Newspaper editors meeting here.
Earlier, Sharon had talked about the problem in Iran with President George W. Bush when the two leaders met Monday at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Israeli officials said that Sharon's military secretary, Yoav Galant, presented Bush at that time with Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, including satellite pictures.
Sharon believes the European effort to curb the Iran's nuclear ambitions has been ineffective. Israeli intelligence officials, however, do not believe the Iranians have yet produced a nuclear weapon.
An Israeli daily, Yediot Ahronot, reported Wednesday that Sharon told Cheney that Tehran should be threatened with sanctions.
"Iran is very close to the point of no return," Yediot quoted Sharon as telling Cheney. "Threats of international sanctions must be issued."
"Iran is a minute away from the moment of truth," the newspaper quoted Sharon as saying. "You have to take action in the (U.N.) Security Council and threaten it with sanctions because we're talking about a threat not just to Israel but to other moderate states in the Middle East."
On reports that Sharon urged Cheney to support sanctions, a senior official in Sharon's delegation said: "There has to be immediate action taken against Iran. There is a time limit because Iran is reaching a technological point of no return."
"The critical point is not when Iran actually manufactures the weapons," he said, "but when it requires the technological ability to do so. Within this time frame, we have to take this to the Security Council to take action. They are the only ones with the tools to act against Iran."
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