'Iran nuke could wipe Israel off map in seconds'

Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, on Friday warned that an Iranian atomic bomb could "wipe Israel off the map in a matter of seconds," and that the Iranians could "accomplish in a matter of seconds what they denied Hitler did, and kill 6 million Jews, literally."

Oren made his comments in a conversation with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.

The newly appointed ambassador warned, "There are clocks ticking all around," with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue. "One of those clocks is the uranium enrichment clock, which will show that by a certain date the Iranians will have sufficient, highly enriched uranium materials to create a bomb that could literally wipe Israel off the map in a matter of seconds."

Oren said the world must remain vigilant about what happens in Iran during the country's tumultuous post-election period.

"It's very important that we watch carefully what happens in Iran - the events in Iran have unmasked to the world the true nature of this regime," said Oren. "This is a regime that's willing to kill its own citizens; it will certainly have no compunctions killing other people in the region, Jews and Sunni Arabs alike."

Oren added that he would not "second-guess" the Obama administration's next move in dealing with Tehran's nuclear aspirations, and added that he was certain Obama had "the best interests of the U.S. and the interest of Israel at heart." Israel, he said, was concerned mainly about the "timing and timeline" of dealing with Iran.

Oren also addressed the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have stoked tensions in recent weeks between Israel and its close ally.

"I never said settlements are not an issue?but they're not the issue," he said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097673.html

Israeli Nuclear Threats and Blackmail