WASHINGTON, July 14 (KUNA) -- Iran must stop all enrichment of nuclear material and shut down the illegal nuclear facility in Qom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a CBS Face the Nation" interview on Sunday, or face a possible military action over its nuclear program.
"These are the right demands, and those should be backed up with ratcheted sanctions," he said during a live videocast from Jerusalem. "... And if sanctions do not work, then they have to know that you (Americans) will be prepared to take military action. That is the only thing that will get their attention." Netanyahu claimed that Iran was "pursuing an alternate route of plotunium, that is enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb." Iran now has about 190 kilos out of the 250 kilos of 20 percent enriched uranium, he claimed, compared to about eight months when it had about 110 kilos.
"So they are edging up to the red line," he said. "They have not crossed it yet. They are also building faster centrifuges that would enable them to jump the line, so to speak, at a much faster rate; that is, within a few weeks once they get to that critical mass of 250 kilos." Asked when Israel would decide whether to attack Iran militarily, Netanyahu said, "I can tell you I will not wait until it is too late." On the ousteing of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Netanyahu said Israel has been concerned about one thing, "that is the maintenance of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. It has been the cornerstone of peace between us and our neighbors. It has also been the cornerstone of stability in the Middle East.
"So our main concern in our contacts with the Egyptian government is to make sure that the peace is preserved, and that terror is prevented, and this remains uppermost in my mind," he added.
Asked about a report that Israel carried out an attack in Syria this month that targeted advanced anti-ship cruise missiles sold to the Syrian government by Russia, Netanyahu said he was "not in the habit of saying what we did or we did not do. ... My policy is to prevent the transfer of dangerous weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and other terror groups as well. And we stand by that policy." (end) rm.bs KUNA 142238 Jul 13NNNN