[attach id=249084 size="medium"]US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel (right) next to Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon in Jerusalem, yesterday. Photo: Reuters[/attach]
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday a $10 billion (€7.7 billion) arms deal planned with Arab and Israeli allies sent a “very clear signal” to Iran that military options remain on the table over its nuclear programme.
“The bottom line is that Iran is a threat, a real threat,” Hagel, who arrived in Israel yesterday on his first visit there as defence secretary, told reporters on his plane.
“The Iranians must be prevented from developing that capacity to build a nuclear weapon and deliver it,” he said.
Hagel is meeting Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon today and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow, with little progress reported at talks this month between Iran and world powers.
The first stop on Hagel’s week-long Middle East trip came two days after the Pentagon said it was finalising a deal to strengthen the militaries of Israel and two of Iran’s key rivals - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The deal includes the sale of KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers, anti-air defence missiles and tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey troop transport planes to Israel as well as the sale of 25 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to the UAE.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia would also be allowed to purchase weapons with so-called “stand-off” capabilities enabling them to engage an enemy with precision at a distance.
Asked if the arms deal sent a message that the military option was on the table if Tehran moved to build a nuclear weapon, Hagel said: “I don’t think there’s any question that that’s another very clear signal to Iran.”
But he added the military option had been “very clear to Iran for some time” and said the arms deal was a continuation of US policy to maintain Israel’s so-called “qualitative military edge” in the region, a general reference to the supply of advanced US-made weaponry and technology to the Jewish state.
Iran denies Western allegations it is seeking to build nuclear arms, saying its efforts aim at electricity generation.
Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has repeatedly voiced impatience with diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s enrichment of uranium, saying they should be coupled with a credible military threat. Israel and the US said all options remain on the table for dealing with any nuclear threat. Hagel said part of the purpose of his visit was to reassure Israelis the US is committed to their security.