Israeli Defense Min Sees EU-Iran Nuclear Talks Failing

The Jerusalem Post:

Israel's defense minister said Wednesday he believes European efforts to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program will fail and called on the U.S. to play a greater role. READ MORE

France, the U.K. and Germany are in negotiations with Iran , trying to reach a deal ensuring Iran 's nuclear program is peaceful. Those talks are deadlocked.

The minister, Shaul Mofaz, said these talks were ineffectual.

"The dialogue with Iran today is being held with the European troika. I do not think they will manage to halt the Iranian nuclear arms effort," Mofaz said in an interview with Israel TV.

Mofaz said Iran posed the greatest threat to Israel's existence with its combination of nuclear aspirations and long-range missiles.

Monday Iran said it was lifting a suspension on uranium reprocessing activities.

Reprocessing is an early step in preparing uranium for conversion into the materials necessary to produce fuel for energy -as Iran says its program is designed for. It also can be used to create nuclear weapons, as the United States accuses Tehran of intending to do.

Mofaz said the U.S. needed to take a greater role in pressuring Iran .

"The U.S., as the only superpower in the world, will have to lead the efforts against the Iranians. To bring it to the security council, to use diplomatic methods, to implement sanctions and demand greater more effective inspections," Mofaz said.