by Dan Williams
JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) – Israel told the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday it would prefer a diplomatic resolution over the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program, but that the country reserved the right to self-defense.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi “the importance for the IAEA Board of Governors to deliver a clear and unequivocal message to Iran in its next decision”.
The warning follows calls by Western countries for the IAEA Board of Governors to rebuke Tehran for failing to respond to questions about uranium traces at undeclared sites.
“Although it prefers diplomacy in order to deprive Iran of the possibility of developing nuclear weapons, Israel reserves the right to self-defense and to act against Iran to end its nuclear program if the international community does not do so within the time allowed”, added Naftali Bennett’s press release, without giving further details.
The dispute has further dampened negotiators’ so far unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate a 2015 Iran nuclear deal that former US President Donald Trump quit in 2018.
Since Washington pulled out and reimposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran – which says its nuclear projects are peaceful – has stepped up uranium enrichment, a process that could produce fuel for bombs.
Rafael Grossi’s office had no immediate comment.
On Thursday, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Israel “can only attack Iran in its dreams”.
“If he has such a dream, he will never wake up from it,” he added, as quoted by Iranian news agency IRNA.
The Israeli military showed its strategic reach this week by publicizing an air force strike exercise over the Mediterranean Sea and the rare deployment of a submarine in the Red Sea.
Some military analysts, however, question whether Israel would be able to inflict lasting damage on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, which are remote, scattered and well-defended, or cope with multi-pronged fighting with Iranian forces and its allies. (Written by Dan Williams; French version Alizée Degorce, editing by Kate Entringer)