© AP Photo/Ilan Assayag
In this Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, the smoke trail of a missile test-fired by the Israeli army is seen from the central Israeli town of Yavne. Among the many alliances of convenience in the Middle East, there is one so unusual that the partners can barely hint about it publicly: Israel and the Gulf Arab states linked by shared fears over Iran's nuclear program.
In this Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, the smoke trail of a missile test-fired by the Israeli army is seen from the central Israeli town of Yavne. Among the many alliances of convenience in the Middle East, there is one so unusual that the partners can barely hint about it publicly: Israel and the Gulf Arab states linked by shared fears over Iran's nuclear program.
Ehud Barak spoke a day before the United Nations' nuclear agency was expected to release a critical report on the Iranian program. The report is expected to implicate Iran in bomb building and erase any doubts about the nature of the program, which Iran says is designed to produce energy, not weapons.
Barak told Israel Radio he didn't expect the International Atomic Energy Agency report to persuade Russia and China to impose what he called "lethal" sanctions on Iran to pressure Tehran to dismantle its nuclear installations.
"As long as no such sanctions have been imposed and proven effective, we continue to recommend to our friends in the world and to ourselves, not to take any option off the table," he said.
The "all options on the table" phrase is often used by Israeli politicians to mean a military assault.
