Israel said here Tuesday that "the United Nations is now " in one of its crucial moments to try to implement its mandate by stopping the nuclear program of Iran," which insists its program is for peaceful purposes, Xinhua reported.
The statement came as Silvan Shalom, the Israeli deputy prime minister and minister for regional development, was speaking to reporters here after his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"We believe that the United Nations now is in one of its crucial moments to try to implement its mandate by stopping the nuclear program of Iran, by stopping the massacre in Syria, and by trying to bring the whole region to peace, quiet and stability," he said.
The tension between Iran and Western powers and their close ally Israel was simmering, as they accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons through its nuclear program, a charge which Tehran categorically rejects.
"Israel believes that Iranians should stop their nuclear program and they should do it immediately," he said. "They should have done it not today, yesterday or the day before yesterday."
"It took us very long time to bring international community to realize that Iranians are developing military that they are implementing military program in order to have nuclear weapon," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Saleh said in Tehran on Friday that it is possible that nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+ 1) are to be held in near future, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Feb. 1 that another meeting between the UN nuclear watch dog and Iran over its nuclear program would take place in Tehran on Feb. 21-22.
The United States and its European allies had expanded their sanctions against Iran to target its oil exports, the lifeline of the Middle East country's economy. The action prompted threats by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil routes.
Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany held their last talks with Iran over its nuclear program in Istanbul, Turkey, in January last year, without making any progress.
Shalom said that during the meeting, Ban told him that he will hold a meeting on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Iran's nuclear program and the situation in Syria, which has been plunged into a political crisis since March 2011.
"The secretary-general informed me that tomorrow he will hold a meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia in order to talk to him about the current situation in Syria and about the nuclear program of Iran," Shalom said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli deputy prime minister also voiced his strong objection to a Palestinian reconciliation deal, which was signed last week in Doha, Qatar, by Khaled Mashaal, leader of the Islamic movement Hamas, and the chief of the rival Fatah party, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"It's a wrong move for President Abbas to form a coalition with the Hamas," which does not recognize the existence of Israel as a country, he said.
The reconciliation deal authorized Abbas to form and head an interim government for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The interim government will prepare for the general and presidential elections to restore a political unity in the Palestinian territories.
The political split between the rival Palestinian factions worsened when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza in 2007.
Since the current Israeli government took power several years ago, "we tried to resume the negotiations with Palestinians," he said, accusing the Palestinians of putting preconditions for the resumed peace talks.
The direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, mediated by the United States, broke down in October 2011 due to Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel and the Palestinians must cease provocations and take concrete steps to restore trust and create a conducive environment for direct talks, Ban said on Monday, pledging to do everything in his power to help the parties advance the peace process.
"The status quo is unsustainable. All efforts must be made towards a positive change," the secretary-general said in remarks to the 2012 session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
"The parties should do their utmost to resolve all permanent status issues, end the conflict, and establish an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace with a secure Israel," he said.
...