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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert supports sanctions on Iran (AP file)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners October 12, 2006 |
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said Israel supports efforts in the U.N. Security council to impose sanctions on Iran to punish Tehran for its defiance in pursuing a nuclear program.
Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and has repeatedly identified Iran as the biggest threat to the Jewish state. Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has frequently called for Israel's destruction.
Olmert told a meeting of senior officials that Israel welcomes the upcoming meeting of the Security Council to discuss sanctions against Iran, and said Israel rejects a compromise proposal that would let Iran continue with its nuclear program, the statement said.
According to Haaretz, "The meeting was also to discuss Israel's course of action, including the possibility of distributing details of the military cooperation between North Korea and Iran to the media and opinion makers in the West. Another topic of discussion was to be Russia's position. Until now, Russia has blocked American efforts to impose sanctions on Iran."
The five permanent members of the council have agreed to start working on sanctions against Iran next week, but have failed to bridge differences on how harsh the penalties should be. The deliberations come after repeated attempts to entice Iran to enter negotiations broke down last week over Iran's refusal to give up uranium enrichment.
Olmert scheduled Thursday's meeting weeks ago to discuss the Iranian nuclear program, long before North Korea conducted its nuclear test. But Olmert told the gathering that the test "highlights the need for urgent, determined, vigorous and united action" by the international community to confront Iran.
Israeli officials said this week they fear that a weak international response to North Korea will encourage Iran to pursue its nuclear program. They also fear that North Korea, which has military ties with Iran, could share its nuclear expertise with Tehran.
AP contributed to this report.
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