IDF chief is to warn Pentagon over Iran

One of Mr Netanyahu’s priorities will be to appoint a senior official to oversee the strategic dialogue with the US.

In the last year of the Bush administration, the US made it clear that they did not believe the time had come for an attack on Iran. But as the intelligence reports accumulate on Iran’s rapid advance towards a military nuclear capability, Israel is seeking to agree a time-limit for the use of diplomatic efforts and sanctions.

Officials in Jerusalem have also complained of receiving mixed signals from the new US administration. Last week, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that the Iranians were not yet close to achieving a nuclear bomb. However, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, appeared to contradict him in an interview on Sunday when he said that Iran already had enough uranium for a nuclear weapon.

President Barack Obama has emphasised that he plans to engage Iran diplomatically to persuade it to abandon its military nuclear plans. But his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told a closed meeting at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference on Monday that she was doubtful as to whether the Iranian regime would respond to the administration’s diplomatic initiatives.

IDF Israel Defence Forces