Tel Aviv, March 18 (RHC) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon reiterated that his country must lead a military operation against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Yaalon´s statements were published by local media in Tel Aviv. He said that Israel cannot depend on the United States to lead a (military) action against Iran´s nuclear program. “We can only depend on ourselves,” he told the Haaretz newspaper.
The statements issued by the Israeli minister were published before the resumption of talks between the delegations of Iran and the 5 Plus 1 Group, made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: The United States, Russia, China, France, the U.K. plus Germany.
Yaloon is well known for his criticism against the US decision to use diplomatic means to address the Iranian nuclear issue.
Last November, Iran and the 5 plus 1 Group signed a six-month accord stating that Iran would stop its 20-percent uranium-enrichment program  in exchange for the release of part of its frozen funds in western banks. This accord followed another protocol signed this month by Tehran with the International Atomic Energy Agency to build mutual trust.
Iran argues that its nuclear energy program is peaceful, but Israel insists in the destruction of Iranian nuclear plants, despite the fact that Israel is the only country in the region that has a nuclear arsenal estimated at over 400 atomic heads.