Israel Won't Bomb Iran, Top Diplomat Says

Foreign Minister Warns Israel Won't Solve Iran's Nuclear Problem For Rest Of Region

(AP)  Israel does not intend to bomb Iran, Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday in the most explicit comments on the matter to date by a top minister of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Russia, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tehran's nuclear program is the world's problem, not just Israel's, and that its Arab neighbors should be even more concerned about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran than Israel is.

But he said those countries should not expect Israel to solve this problem for them.

The comments marked a softening of signals from Netanyahu's hardline government - particularly coming from Lieberman, one its leading hawks.

"We do not intend to bomb Iran, and nobody will solve their problems with our hands," Lieberman told reporters. "We don't need that. Israel is a strong country, we can protect ourselves.

"But the world should understand that the Iran's entrance into the nuclear club would prompt a whole arms race, a crazy race of unconventional weaponry across the Mideast that is a threat to the entire world order, a challenge to the whole international community," he said, in Russian. "So we do not want a global problem to be solved with our hands."

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and has refused to rule out the use of force.

After his recent meeting in Washington with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu said he and Mr. Obama agreed Iran must not obtain nuclear weapons, and attempts to solve the problem through negotiations could not be unlimited in time.

Iran, whose president has expressed hatred of Israel, maintains its nuclear programs are only designed to provide electricity. But Israel, the United States and other nations fear the effort is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.

Lieberman suggested Iran's closer neighbors should be more concerned about a nuclear-armed Iran than Israel.

"It's clearly not an Israeli problem - it's the problem of the whole Middle East, and those who are most concerned about the Iranian nuclear problem are the Arab countries," Lieberman said.

"I think that those Iran's nuclear program frightens most of all are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and all the others," he said. "Iran is a factor of instability in the Middle East, without any connection with Israel."

Lieberman also said that issues such as the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs and instability in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia pose greater global threats than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does - suggesting the United States should focus more on resolving other problems.

He spoke as Obama began his first Mideast trip as president.

Lieberman met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his Russian visit, the first since he - a Soviet native - became Israel's foreign minister two months ago.

Israel wants Russia, which has close ties with Iran, to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. But his visit brought no sign of a shift in Russian policy on Iran or Moscow's engagement with the violent Hamas group, which angers Israel.

"I won't pretend that full mutual understanding can be reached in a single visit. Doubtless, there are disagreements." Lieberman said. "But these disagreements were very clearly laid out and we will continue our dialogue with Russia."

[YrSoWrong]

Or our blog problem, as we now see.

[YrSoWrong]

It would be fine if many of you relocated to Iran just in time for the next big event.

[nolies74621]

Stop all aid to the middle east there is Nothing there America needs!
Posted by didserve at 6:59 PM : Jun 3, 2009


Huh, there is'nt anything there that we need. Do you drive a car? Does it run on water?

[nolies74621]

This guy is just settling fears. Israel is'nt stupid, If Iran makes a move to threaten them, I bet a dollar Isreal would bomb thme to smitherens and I would'nt blame them. Amadinanutcase has repeatedly passed idle threats aginst Isreal. It's like if someone came up to you or I and said that they were going to wipe me or you out, believe me I would'nt wait for them to make good on the threat.

[oztraylyan]

HoHoHoHo, look how the zionists back down in the face of Russian nuclear annhialation, for the rest of the world the rhetoric is the same, "we will deal with Iran alone if need be" and for the Russians "we will not bomb Iran" HoHoHoHo
Pathetic and submissive display of backpedalling if I have ever seen one. Maybe the following had something to do with this flip-flop

"We have no plans to attack anyone, but we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to clearly understand ... that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," General Yuri Baluyevsky said.



The comments from the hawkish Baluyevsky did not appear to mark a policy shift for Russia, whose leaders have stressed the need to maintain a powerful nuclear deterrent and reserved the right to carry out preventive strikes to counter existential threats

[ajjaxtheleast]

"The Bomb",,,,Iran just developes it:,,,,,

Academic Jud:,,,"WE NOW HAVE THE BOMB!!,,, AND THE FIRST
THING THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO WITH IT IS USE IT IN SUCH
A FASHION THAT IRAN WILL INSTANTLY ENCOMPASS THE
ENTIRE EARTH IN SMALL PARTICLE AND GAS FORM."

If we're so adept at predicting what country leaders will do
how did we miss what the Moron-In-Chief did??

My understanding of the scenerio as envisioned by some:,,,

Iran bombs Isriel, 20 countries bomb Iran,,,,we locate two
other countries to replace these two obliterated countries as
our enemies to be frightened to death of what they might
in the future do to each other, America or the world.

That about it?

[bajajohn1]

Earnestly working to solve the Palestinian situation, with a little give and take, and the threat from the Iranian theocracy might just disappear. The pretext for their nuclear weapon will disappear.

[AmericanZionist]

It's much more complicated than you think. Iran is a Moslim country which bellieves in Islam taking over the world they are ethnicly Persian. Palestinians who only identified themselves as such since 1964 are Arabs who live in the region of the middle east once under British mandate and then divided between the Arabs and the Jews they idenify themselves as Arabs. the palestinian Athourity represents Arab palestinians. Hizbollah in Lebonon and Hamas in Gaza are Iranian proxies funded by Iran in order to win loyalty and identification with the Islamic movement to take over the world they don't care about the individual citizen like the example of how Israel protects Jews all over the world, in fact they USE the as human shields to garner sympathy for their cause of Islamic Jihad you,ve been had if you are American your value system is way on the other end of the spectrum than Islamic Jihadism or maybe the Islamic movement in the USA is paying you to write and spread their propoganda...

[jwesel1]

If your neighbor had sworn to kill you, your family and then burn your house down, would you sit around and wait for him to make good on the threat? The cops say you have to do nothing because the maniac hasn't done anything... but your wife and kids live in fear and don't sleep well at night.

It's no way to live a life.

Anyone else could just up and move... but a nation can't do that.

Iran has created this problem by threatening to kill its neighbors. The UN and world cops say they can't do anything until there has been a crime... but folks in Israel are worried.

If it were you... would you wait for the madman from Tehran to make good on his promise?
Posted by sincity_q at 8:25 PM : Jun 3, 2009
===================================================================
It's Iran's responsibility to hold Israel responsible for taking the lands of Palestinians because they Iranians and Palestinians share the same religion. Same way as Israel would go after someone killing a Jew even if the killing happened outside Israel

[sincity_q]

If your neighbor had sworn to kill you, your family and then burn your house down, would you sit around and wait for him to make good on the threat? The cops say you have to do nothing because the maniac hasn't done anything... but your wife and kids live in fear and don't sleep well at night.

It's no way to live a life.

Anyone else could just up and move... but a nation can't do that.

Iran has created this problem by threatening to kill its neighbors. The UN and world cops say they can't do anything until there has been a crime... but folks in Israel are worried.

If it were you... would you wait for the madman from Tehran to make good on his promise?

[didserve]

Stop all aid to the middle east there is Nothing there America needs!

[YrSoWrong]

Isn't Iran just a nice, compact bulls-eye of a place? They attract the best sort of people.

[hologram5]

We do not intend to bomb Iran, and nobody will solve their problems with our hands,"
--------------------------------------------------------
Puhlease, you guys are the biggest complainers and the only ones spouting off that you are going to perform an airstrike. You don't hear the USA stating things like that.

[babooph]

All these almost endless nations Israel bombs,could they someday return the favor? Israel has gerrymandered itself into being a "pure" target-nuclear bombs are spreading-hate is the main order-WHAT A MESS!

[the1968]

.....an invasion would be more appropriate.

[bobford5]

won't bomb Iran - today that is. As long as they succeeded in doing the job they set out to do I doubt much of the world would really care if they did bomb Iran. I know I wouldn't.

[veils-2009]

A simple bombing won't stop Iran's nuclear weapon machine. It will take the attacks from several superpowers acting in concert. Because there will be a need for a ground mop up, UN's first war against a rogue nation will be against Iran, or Korea. They are both equal candidates.

[sjc_1]

We will keep dancing with Iran until they get too close and then boom! This is obvious to anyone that gives it any thought. If Iran wants to avoid boom, then they get reasonable, if not...then not.

[YrSoWrong]

I wonder what some of you think would happen to a person of your limited capacities under Sharia law -- that your rants would be excused because the mad must be tolerated?

[YrSoWrong]

Looks like the deranged and obsessed with continue to make infantile puns, until local authorities take their dogs away for safe-keeping and put the owner under observation.

[mysteriousjz]

Any more naked aggression and violence against any part of Muslim world would be a catastrophe for the very survival and well being of the "two biggest terrorist states" in the world. So much atrocities have been committed against Muslims that it seems the limit has almost reached to the point of brink.