Israel says decision on Iran to be independent

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday on the eve of a US-Israel summit in Washington.Clearly, the United States is the biggest world power and the biggest and most important country that is a friend of Israel, but we are an independent state, Lieberman told Israeli public radio.Ultimately, the state of Israel will take the decisions that are most appropriate based on its evaluation of the situation, he said.Liebermans comments came shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with US President Barack Obama on Monday, a meeting expected to focus heavily on Irans nuclear activities.Israel, Washington and much of the international community believes that Irans nuclear programme masks a weapons drive, a charge Tehran denies.US intelligence is said to believe that Iran does not currently intend to produce nuclear weapons, though it may be seeking the capacity to do so, and Washington has emphasised the importance of deterrent sanctions and diplomacy.But Israel is reportedly eager to move more quickly and decisively against Irans nuclear activities, using a military strike to prevent it from obtaining even the capacity to take a decision to produce nuclear weapons.The Iranian file is well-known, Lieberman said. The direction taken by Iran is clear.But he added that any decisions should be taken calmly, weighing the pros and cons. All this chatter doesnt help anyone.Lieberman also warned that the international communitys failure to deal with the bloodshed in Syria, where a crackdown on anti-regime protesters has killed thousands, showed Israel could rely only on itself for protection.If the international community is incapable of stopping the massacres in Syria, what is the value of its promises to protect the security of Israel?.Obama has sought to reassure Israel that he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, as indicated in an interview with the Atlantic Monthly magazine published on Friday.I think that the Israeli government recognises that, as president of the United States, I dont bluff, he told the magazine.Despite the comments, Israeli newspapers on Sunday said the meeting between the two leaders was likely to be tense.--AFP