Barak: Fear of US attack is holding back Iranian nuke program

The threat of an attack on its facilities from the US or others has kept Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday.

Speaking to Israel Radio, Barak said the US has a much better capability than Israel to strike against Iran in the later stages of nuclear weapons development. He added that Israel and the United States are in concert on intelligence analysis, and on leaving all options open.

Speaking from Germany, Barak said the only difference of opinion comes from the fact that the US has the ability to strike Iran at a later stage of weapons development, whereas Israel is more limited. However, Barak warned Israel cannot just watch from the sidelines and lose its initiative to act.

Barak said that Iran has been working in recent years to scatter and reinforce its nuclear facilities to limit the damage caused by a potential attack.

The defense minister is visiting Germany, where he signed a deal to purchase another Dolphin class submarine for Israel yesterday. He called the 400-million-euro purchase the most expensive weapon in Israel’s arsenal.