Dubai: An ally of Iran's sup-reme leader yesterday demanded that Israel be "punished" for the recent killing of a nuclear scientist while a top US general urged Israel to keep the channels of communication open as tensions build in the region.
"Terrorism has a long history in some countries like the Zionist regime," Ali Larijani said of nuclear-armed Israel.
"The Zionist regime should be punished in a way that it can not play such games with our country again."
Also yesterday, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that any foreign military intervention against Iran's nuclear programme would trigger "war and chaos" across the Middle East and beyond.
"France will do everything to avoid a military intervention," Sarkozy said, calling instead for a "much stronger" sanctions regime to be imposed on Tehran.
Speaking after talks with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on what was his first visit to Israel since taking office last October, Obama's top military official, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said both sides would benefit from greater engagement over regional issues, in an apparent reference to the Iranian nuclear standoff.
Following Obama's approval of US sanctions on New Year's Eve that are intended to choke Tehran's oil sales, European Union foreign ministers are expected to agree on Monday to an oil embargo.
The major powers seeking to negotiate an end to Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons are expected to issue a statement laying out what Tehran would need to do to return to talks.
Britain revokes Press TV licence
Britain's telecoms regulator yesterday revoked the licence of Iranian state-owned television station Press TV, and said the channel would disappear from UK TV screens by the end of the day.
Ofcom said it was not convinced the station, an arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, had control over the programmes it aired — a requirement for gaining a broadcasting licence. It is a crime in Britain to broadcast without a licence.
