New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS) Israel Tuesday demanded an embargo on Iran to prevent the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regime from going nuclear.
Israeli Trade and Communication Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said here that a nuclear Iran would pose a serious threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.

He urged the US and other Western countries to immediately impose sanctions on Tehran for six months. This, he said, would have the desired impact and force the regime to abandon its nuclear programme.

Ben-Eliezer, who held talks with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, told Indian journalists that Iran was financing extremist groups in the region. These groups not only posed a threat to Israel but were trying to destabilize many Arab nations.

He denied that his government was targeting Iran and Syria.

“We have no intention to target these countries,” the Israeli minister said. In fact, Israel was keen to resolve the Golan Heights issue with the Syrian government, he said.

Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ben-Eliezer hoped that the problem would be resolved in the next two years.

He claimed that a roadmap for the resolution of the 62-year-old conflict, based on a two-state formula, was ready. He said peace negotiations would begin soon.

“We are ready for peace with the Palestinians and the Arabs.” An overwhelming majority in his country want durable and permanent peace with the Arabs, the minister stated.

He urged India to play a pro-active role in ending the conflict in the Middle East. India, he said, had emerged as a major economic power and “it enjoys good relations with both sides”.

He said economic and trade relations between India and Israel were excellent, particularly in the fields of agriculture and IT.

He did not mention the vigorous defence relationship, which has been kept a hush-hush affair by both countries.