Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren said Sunday Israel
was not mulling a military strike in Iran.
In an interview to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Oren was asked to refer to American estimates Israel would attack the Islamic Republic by the end of 2009.
"I don't think it's true," Oren told Zakaria. "I think that we are far from even contemplating such things right now."
Commenting on Jerusalem's concerns regarding the US' policy on Tehran, Oren said President Obama assured Netanyahu "that there would be a serious reassessment of the engagement policy before the end of the year."
He added: "And we are further reassured, now that that end-of-the-year deadline has been moved up to September. We actually have a date when it's going to occur. We are confident by the fact that the administration, in the aftermath of recent events in Iran, has exhibited greater willingness to consider formulating a package of serious sanctions against Iran, even now in advance of the reassessment."
The Israeli ambassador reiterated in the interview Israel's long-standing position that the country will not be the first to introduce nuclear weaponry into the Middle East.
Speaking of the Iranian nuclear program, he stated that Tehran has shown zero willingness to suspend its program, and that it has systematically lied about it.
He also referred to Iran's influence in the Gaza Strip. "In Gaza, you still have an Iranian-supported proxy terrorist organization that has committed itself not only to Israel's destruction, but to the undermining of al-Fatah rule, and they particularly hate Salam Fayyad in the West Bank, and they control all movement of all goods and services into Gaza."
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