Barak hold talks in US on Iran, West Asia diplomacy
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US defence secretary Robert Gates held talks with Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak on the threat posed by Iran and the latest West Asia peace efforts, a spokesman said.
A day before his meeting, Mr Barak said that tensions over Iran's nuclear program were still at the diplomatic stage and that tougher sanctions might persuade Tehran to switch course.
"This was their sixth meetingin 2010, and Tuesday’s talks touched on everything from the recent wildfires in Israel to ongoing peace process efforts to the challenges posed by Iran," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said in a statement.
The morning session covered "a range of bilateral and regional security issues," he said.
Mr Barak also was scheduled to meet the CIA director, Leon Panetta, and President Mr Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon.
Israel has often voiced impatience with Western diplomacy towards Iran but Mr Barak said on Sunday that a new round of sanctions could still bear fruit.
"I still believe that much more active sanctions can cause the regime to have a second thought" about pursuing nuclear weapons, he told CNN in an interview.
The US and other major powers recently resumed diplomatic talks with Iran over the country's disputed nuclear project, which Tehran insists is designed for purely peaceful purposes.
Israel and the United States have refused to rule out military action to halt Iran's uranium enrichment work, but Gates and other top officials have said any strike likely would only delay the nuclear program for a few years.
The visit also came amid a bid by Washington this week to salvage West Asia peace negotiations, with US West Asia envoy George Mitchell arriving in Jerusalem as part of a return to indirect talks.
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