Israel demands sanctions on Iran

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has called for international sanctions, aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Barak made the remarks on Thursday, after a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates in Washington. However, the US State Department says it is not currently looking to impose crippling sanctions on Iran.

Instead, it wants to pressurize the Iranian government into changing course over its nuclear program, while protecting its people from the effects of sanctions. Western powers have recently been pushing for a fourth UN Security Council resolution against Iran over the nuclear issue.

Ehud Barak, Isreali Defense Minister, said, "We emphasized our position that since Iran is trying to reach military nuclear capability, it makes sense that sanctions will be both effective, limited in time, and causing them to stop their intention to reach military nuclear capability. And this is the criteria by which we will judge the results."

File photo of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Barak was to travel to the United States on Tuesday for talks on curbing Iran's nuclear programme and reviving the Middle East peace process, military radio said. (AFP/Israeli Defence Ministry/File)