BICOM

Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who is also a front-runner to become the country’s next defence minister, indicated yesterday that the United States is increasingly determined to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme since the re-election of President Obama.

Ya’alon, who is a former Chief of Staff, is considered a leading candidate to succeed Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who announced his retirement from politics last month. Speaking to Israel’s Army Radio, Ya’alon said yesterday that the Israeli government had expected renewed American efforts to combat Iran’s nuclear ambitions after November’s election, “And indeed it has been renewed.” He said that in addition to a commitment to ongoing negotiations and sanctions, there are “preparations, mainly American for now, for the possibility that military force will have to be used.” Ya’alon reiterated that for Israel’s government, Iran’s nuclear programme “is still our top priority.”

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said yesterday that Iranian and European Union (EU) officials had discussed the time and place of the next round of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 forum, consisting of representatives from the United States, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany. Several previous meetings between the two have yielded few results.

However, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran defiantly announced yesterday that Iran “will not suspend 20 percent uranium enrichment because of the demands of others” and will continue the enrichment “to meet its needs.” Western powers want Iran to halt the process, as a fissile concentration of 20 percent represents a significant step towards the level that would be required to make nuclear weapons.

In response, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Tehran to take concrete steps to assuage international fears, saying “Iran has to address the immediate key concern, which is the issue of 20 percent enrichment, by taking an initial comprehensive confidence-building step in this area, thereby creating space for more diplomacy and negotiations.”