The showdown over Iran's nuclear pursuit is "still in the stage of diplomacy," and extended sanctions against the regime could help prevent it from acquiring atomic weapons, Israel's defense minister said in comments broadcast Sunday.

"I think that it's still in the stage of diplomacy," Ehud Barak told CNN in an interview.

"I still believe that much more active sanctions can cause the regime to have a second thought" about pursuing a weapons drive, which is at the heart of the concerns by western powers over Iran's nuclear program.

Barak's comments came days after the first international talks in 14 months were held on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, which concluded with an agreement to meet again in Istanbul in late January to discuss ways to resolve what the European Union described as "core concerns about the nuclear issue."

But even as diplomatic efforts between Iran and the six international powers engaged once again, Barak reiterated a long-held Israeli principle -- that the Jewish state would not sit idle if it felt a Tehran nuclear weapons drive was putting Israel under direct threat.

"As I've said earlier, we recommend to you (the Americans) and to the Europeans not to remove any option from the table and we mean it."

When asked directly if Israel would authorize an attack on Iran should sanctions fail, Barak said: "I don't think that we have to answer these questions.

"Of course, we have a right of self-defense, and it's a basic right of individuals in any country, including this continent or in Europe, to live in safety and to live free of fear."

Iran is currently under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, the sensitive process which can be used to make nuclear fuel or, in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atom bomb.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the six countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- to lift international sanctions against his country if they want the talks to bear fruit.

On Friday western nations accused Iran of stepping up illegal arms trading and made calls for tougher UN sanctions, after the seizure of 13 containers of rockets, mortars and other weapons in Nigeria last month and up to seven tonnes of high explosive in Italy in September.

West eyes tighter Iran sanctions for arms smuggling
United Nations (AFP) Dec 10, 2010 - Western nations on Friday accused Iran of stepping up illegal arms trading and made calls for tougher UN sanctions.

Britain told the UN Security Council that new Iranian individuals and entities should be added to sanctions lists while France said there should be a detailed investigation of Iran's sanctions-busting.

The concerns were raised after the seizure of 13 containers of rockets, mortars and other weapons in Nigeria last month and up to seven tonnes of high explosive in Italy in September.

British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told a Security Council meeting on Iran sanctions that the new seizures were part of "a pattern of violations" after other raids, some involving Iran's weapons trade with North Korea.

Lyall Grant said the Security Council's sanctions committee should consider adding the names of more Iranian individuals and entities to sanctions lists "to prevent further violations and sanctions evasion."

France's representative, Martin Briens, said the seizures show that the four rounds of UN sanctions ordered against Iran's nuclear program are having an impact.

"Iran has to make use of increasingly complex and complicated routes and schemes. Thus we can only underscore the gravity of this type of smuggling," Briens told the council.

He said Iran was behind "a considerable flow of arms and other dangerous material" and that "worrying new routes" for shipments have been found in Africa.

"This is without doubt only the tip of the iceberg," he declared, calling for a more detailed investigation of the two new cases and the "evasion techniques" used by Iran.

US ambassador Susan Rice backed the calls for a more thorough investigation which she said would "help us better understand and to halt Iran's arms smuggling and proliferation networks in violation of this council's resolutions."

Nigerian agents seized 13 containers of weapons in the port in Lagos in October. The containers were loaded at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and were reportedly destined for Gambia.

An Iranian and three Nigerians face charges in Nigeria. Authorities there also wanted to question an Iranian diplomat, but the Tehran government has refused to lift the diplomat's immunity.

Customs officers at Gioia Tauro in southern Italy seized between six and seven tonnes of RDX high explosives on September 21 that were en route from Iran to Syria, according to Italian media.

The explosives were hidden in a container transporting powdered milk.

Last year, seizures included military hardware being sent from North Korea to Iran.

The West accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb. The Islamic state insists its research is peaceful.

Council ambassadors welcomed this weeks talks between Iran and the six international powers in Geneva and the plan for more in January. But the Western powers again warned that Iran risked deeper isolation if it was not more cooperative with nuclear investigators.

"We are clear that the next talks should include a candid discussion on the many international concerns relating to the Iranian nuclear program and Iran needs to show real progress in these concerns," said the British ambassador.

If Iran "builds international confidence and respects its obligations we will reciprocate. But if Iran refuses its isolation will only grow," warned Rice.