US sidesteps questions on Israeli threat against Iran

Washington: The White House on Friday sidestepped questions about an Israeli threat to attack Iranian
nuclear sites if it continues uranium enrichment, saying it was committed to dealing with Tehran through multilateral diplomacy.

Israeli Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as telling an Israeli newspaper that an attack on Iran looks "unavoidable" given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential.

"I understand that Israel is very concerned about their future and their safety when they have a neighbour in their region—Iran—that says they want to wipe them off the map," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. "We are trying to solve this diplomatically," she said.

Asked whether the United States was keeping military options open as a last resort with Iran, she said President George W. Bush had always said he "would never take any options off the table" but that Washington was pursuing multilateral diplomacy.

"The international community deserves to have the verification that that is true," she said of Iran's assertions
that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

The Bush administration has repeatedly said it wants to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy but has made clear that military options remain on the table as a last resort.

Iran has defied Western pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment projects, which it says are for peaceful electricity generation.

Tehran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel, believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, and US targets in the Gulf if there is any attack on Iran.