Israel could drop its threat of an imminent attack on Iran after Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that discussions with the United States about setting Tehran a "red line" over its nuclear programme are under way.

After weeks of increasingly belligerent language towards Iran, the Israeli prime minister struck a rare note of temperance amid signs that his efforts to force the United States to show its hand were at last yielding dividends.

"We're discussing it right now with the United States," Mr Netanyahu told Canada's CBC television.

"I don't think that they (Iran) see a clear red line, and I think the sooner we establish one, the greater the chances that there won't be a need for other types of action."

President Barack Obama has adopted a series of measures against Iran this year, ranging from tougher sanctions to the deployment of additional naval forces in the Persian Gulf, in an attempt to dissuade Israel from launching unilateral military action.

He has also promised never to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, repeatedly stating that the United States would be willing to use force to prevent such an eventuality.

But Mr Netanyahu has indicated that he would only be stayed by a much more explicit threat, one that clearly enunciated what threshold Iran would have to cross in order to trigger American military intervention.

The Israeli prime minister has deliberately created the impression that he could order air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities at any moment by engaging in periodic bouts of bellicose rhetoric towards Iran.

The most recent has prompted speculation that Israel could attack before November's presidential election in the United States.

Opinion in Israel over Mr Netanyahu's sincerity remains divided, but his strategy has succeeded in forcing Western powers into taking his threats seriously.

But even if Mr Obama does set out his "red lines" it remains unclear whether they will go far enough to placate the Israeli prime minister, who has not publicly disclosed the full scope of his demands.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, indicated yesterday that the White House was not contemplating any kind of ultimatum. "We're not setting deadlines," she said.

Mr Netanyahu's insistence that Western sanctions against Iran are not working were bolstered yesterday after the head of the UN's nuclear agency accused Tehran of deliberately stalling international efforts to inspect the suspected military aspect of its nuclear programme.

"We need to stop going around in circles," Yukiya Amano said of Iran's persistent attempts to prevent inspection of the Parchin military site in Tehran, where the regime is accused of experimenting with blast tests used to set off a nuclear charge.----

Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9534046/Israel-could-drop-threat-of-imminent-Iran-attack.html