Thaindian News

Jerusalem, Nov 8 (IANS) Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday dismissed media reports that his government was gearing for a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, saying a decision had not been reached.

“War is not a picnic. We want a picnic, not a war,” Barak said in an interview with Israel Radio just days before the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to issue a report on the progress of Tehran’s nuclear programme, reported Xinhua.

The Ha’aretz daily last week reported that Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were lobbying cabinet ministers in an effort to secure a majority support for an attack on Iran, despite assessments that an Iranian response could potentially wreak havoc on Israel.

Dismissing the report as “baseless,” Barak said the public discourse on the issue has “brought about an unfounded and superfluous (media) campaign of intimidation”.

The defence minister downplayed the scenario of mass casualties.

“Israel does not want war, but even if it is drawn into one against its will, the fear that thousands of its citizens will be killed is unfounded … there’s no real danger to Israel’s existence,” he said.

His comments came as Israel, the US and other countries are eagerly anticipating the IAEA report, which is expected to unveil intelligence that Iran has been actively seeking to obtain nuclear weapons since 2004.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Iran has achieved significant progress in its drive to acquire nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them and can now build a nuclear weapon within a short time.

While both the US and Israel have not ruled out the possibility of military actions against Iran’s nuclear facilities, top American officials have recently expressed concern that Israel might attempt to independently launch an attack without prior coordination with the US administration.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, during a visit to Israel in October, reportedly failed to secure a commitment from Netanyahu and Barak that they would let the US in on any attack plans, Ha’aretz reported last week.