Israel says clock ticking after Iran talks fail
Israel has responded to the failure of the latest nuclear talks between world powers and Iran with a familiar refrain: Sanctions must be ramped up while the clock ticks down toward possible military action.
With diplomacy at an impasse, there is satisfaction among Israeli leaders at what they see as a tough line taken by the West in the negotiations on curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israeli political sources said yesterday.
A member of the British negotiating team quietly visited Israel on Wednesday to brief officials on this week's Moscow talks, the sources said, and new US and European sanctions against Iran are due to come into effect in the next two weeks.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak stuck closely to his stated line, without offering any new sense of urgency, when asked by the Washington Post how much more time Israel can allow for diplomacy to work.
"I don't want to pretend to set timelines for the world," he said, "but we have said loud and clear that it cannot be a matter of weeks but it (also) cannot be a matter of years".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented publicly on the Moscow talks. He had complained that the months of talking had given Iran a "freebie" to continue enrichment.
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