"They're edging up to the red line. They haven't crossed it
yet," Netanyahu said on Sunday on CBS News's "Face the Nation."
"They're getting closer and closer to the bomb. And they have
to be told in no uncertain terms that that will not be allowed
to happen."
Netanyahu went on to say that Israel had a more narrow
timetable than Washington, implying it may have to take
unilateral action to halt Iran's controversial nuclear
programme.
"Our clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer
than the United States. We're more vulnerable. And therefore,
we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps
before the United States does," he said.
Netanyahu said Tehran has been building "faster centrifuges
that would enable them to jump the line, so to speak, at a much
faster rate -- that is, within a few weeks."
No change of policy
Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear policies were unlikely to
change under its next president, moderate cleric and former
nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, who will assume power on
August 3.
"He's criticising his predecessor (President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad) for being a wolf in wolf's clothing. His strategy
is be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Smile and build a bomb,"
Netanyahu said.
He urged the United States to make clear to Rowhani that it
will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, and that military
force "is truly on the table."
"We've spoken many times, President Obama and I, about the
need to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons," Netanyahu
said.
"What is important is to convey to them -- especially after
the election -- (is) that (the) policy will not change," he
said.
"If sanctions don't work, they have to know that you'll be
prepared to take military action -- that's the only thing that
will get their attention," he added.
Iran for years has been at loggerheads with world powers over
its nuclear drive, which Western nations believe is aimed at
developing an atomic weapon capability.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful,
but the sanctions imposed over the standoff have isolated it
internationally.
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