Israeli leaders warned Thursday they would never allow Iran to come into possession of nuclear weapons but insisted that diplomacy was the best way to confront their arch enemies in Tehran.
"Israel, and not only Israel, cannot accept a situation in which Iran would be in possession of nuclear weapons," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told journalists in Tel Aviv.
"We must do everything possible to prepare for such a situation. But Israel is not spearheading any campaign" against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions, he added.
"It is not only a danger for Israel but for the Middle East as a whole and for other countries." Sharon was speaking after his defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, said that international diplomacy and pressure were the best way of confronting Iran over its nuclear ambitions. "The diplomatic track is the best way of dealing with the Iranian atomic programme," Mofaz told army radio.
"We must do everything to put this hot potato before the UN Security Council so that sanctions and tight controls of the Iranian nuclear installations will be imposed," he said.
"The challenge posed by Iran is not only a danger for Israel but for the entire free world, and the United States and the Europeans are aware of this danger."