Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




NUKEWARS
Israel 'does not intend to bomb Iran': Lieberman
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) June 3, 2009


Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Photo courtesy of AFP.

Israel "does not intend to bomb" Iran, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday, after repeated warnings from the Jewish state that Tehran is courting danger over its nuclear drive.

"We are not intending to bomb Iran," Lieberman told reporters in Moscow. "It is not a problem for Israel, it is a problem for the Middle East."

"No one is going to get their problems solved through our hands. We do not have claims on Iranian territory, we do not have a common border with Iran," he added.

Israeli officials in the past few years have refused to rule out the option of a military strike on Iran, which Israel accuses of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies the charges.

"Iran's entry to the nuclear club will provoke an arms race in the Middle East and this will be a challenge for the international community," Lieberman added.

Israel has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the Iranian nuclear drive, particularly after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the Jewish state to be "wiped from the map" and cast doubt on the Holocaust.

Some commentators have predicted that new right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would take an even harder line on Iran than the previous government and resort to military action.

Netanyahu said on a visit to Washington last month that Israel reserved its right to self-defence against Iran.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said last month he could "not imagine" Israel would strike Iranian nuclear facilities without advance approval from the United States.

Israeli radio also reported in May that CIA chief Leon Panetta had held secret talks in Israel with top officials who assured him the Jewish state would not launch a surprise strike on Iran.

President Barack Obama's decision to engage Tehran in direct talks in an effort to end the nuclear standoff have raised concern in Israel which called for the negotiations to be limited in time and accompanied by tough sanctions.

Rounding off a two-day visit to Moscow, Lieberman also bluntly warned Russia not to consider inviting Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese Shiite miltants Hezbollah to a mooted peace conference.

Russia, a member of the international quartet for the Middle East, hopes to hold a major conference this year bringing all the top players together for a peace parley in what would be a major boost for its own diplomatic kudos.

"We will not participate in any conference -- neither in Washington nor in Moscow -- that has the participation of Hamas and Hezbollah," Lieberman told reporters.

Russia, which has traditionally had strong ties with the Arab world, maintains contacts with Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist organisation.

Lieberman said that Israel thought the Moscow conference was a positive idea but "the objectives and list of participants need to be defined, as well as the result it wants to reach".

.


Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








NUKEWARS
Iran candidate ready for nuclear talks with world powers
Tehran (AFP) May 29, 2009
Former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Friday that he is prepared to hold talks with the international P5-plus-1 group over Iran's nuclear drive if he wins next month's presidential election. "I agree to talks with 5-plus-1," Mousavi told journalists from international news networks. But Mousavi said Tehran would continue its nuclear programme. "We will not give (up) anything for ... read more


NUKEWARS
China Considering Manned Lunar Landing In 2025-2030

The Next Moon Missions

NASA Eyes Water In Moon Mission

Chandrayaan Orbit Raised To 200 Km From Moon

NUKEWARS
Evidence For Liquid Water On Early Frozen Mars

Find Your Own Place On The Red Planet

If You Could Travel To Mars, Would You Go

NASA Selects Student's Entry As New Mars Rover Name

NUKEWARS
NASA Selects Four Proposals To Study Space Radiation Risks

Fake Astronaut Gets Hit By Artificial Solar Flare

NY couple to be first to wed in zero gravity

Cirque du Soleil founder going to space: spokesman

NUKEWARS
China to launch Mars space probe

China To Launch First Mars Probe In Second Half Of 2009

China Launches Yaogan VI Remote-Sensing Satellite

China Able To Send Man To Moon Around 2020

NUKEWARS
Space station crew doubles to six for first time

International Space Station Doubles Crew To Six

ISS To Welcome First Full Crew

Astronauts blast off to double space station crew

NUKEWARS
Arianespace Receives Ariane 5 For Its TerreStar-1 Mission

SPACEX And ATSB Announce New Launch Date For Razaksat Satellite

Brazil Launches Rocket To Test Launching Base

ILS To Launch Second SkyTerra Satellite

NUKEWARS
Planet-Hunting Method Succeeds At Last

New Method For Finding Alien Oceans

Let The Planet Hunt Begin

The Crowded Universe

NUKEWARS
Aerospace Nanosatellite Tests The Latest Generation Of Solar Cells

Laser makes light bulbs super-efficient

ESA technology monitors remote facilities

Astrium UK Selects GNAT Pro For Environmental Satellite System




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement