Biden: Israel Would Be 'Ill-Advised' to Attack Iran

08/04/2009 reported by AlmanarTV

US Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be "ill-advised" to attack Iran, but stressed that it was unlikely to do so.

"I don't believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think he would be ill-advised to do that," Biden said in an interview with CNN, when asked about possible Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. "And so my level of concern is no different than it was a year ago," he added.

Biden's comments came after Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday that a "sophisticated and devious" Iranian regime has managed to hide the Islamic Republic's nuclear program from the world.

Also Monday, United States President Barack Obama said the U.S. would go ahead with plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe as long as Iran posed a threat with its nuclear activities.

Iran subsequently criticized Obama for the remarks and urged Washington and other countries possessing atom weapons to dismantle their arsenals. It also confirms that its program is for peaceful goals and it is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Presenting his new government to Israeli parliament a week ago, Netanyahu alluded to an eventual nuclear-armed Iran as the biggest threat to his Zionist entity. "The biggest danger to humanity and to Israel comes from the possibility of a radical regime armed with nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said, making clear his remarks were aimed at Iran.

President Barack Obama's administration has repeatedly said that all options are on the table for dealing with Iran, but is trying to launch a new dialogue with the Islamic republic after a three-decade freeze in relations.