Ex-Israeli foreign minister calls for harsh sanctions against Iran

Jul 30, 2009, 11:06 GMT

Jerusalem - The international community should prepare harsh and more active sanctions against Iran, so Tehran understands what is at stake regarding its nuclear programme, Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni told visiting US National Security Advisor James Jones Thursday.

'This world, the international community, led by the United States, must be clear regarding Iran and regarding whether the world will stop a nuclear Iran, or if it will come to terms with it. The world needs to be more clear and united on this question,' Israel media quoted Livni, a former foreign minister, as telling Jones.

Jones landed in Israel Tuesday, heading a 15-member delegation of top US officials who also deal with Iran, including special State Department advisor Dennis Ross and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns.

He met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday for briefings related to Iran's nuclear programme, in the midst of a week of intense US-Israeli diplomacy.

Israel regards Iran as its main existential threat, given Tehran's nuclear ambitions and repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.

The hardline Netanyahu government, which took office four months ago following elections on February 10, has called stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons a top priority.

It says it prefers much tougher international sanctions, but Defence Minister Ehud Barak reiterated after his talks with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Monday that the military option had not been taken off the table.