Israel gives mixed signals on Iran attack

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Israel issued contradictory signals on Wednesday on whether it might bomb Iran, with its foreign minister saying there were no such plans and the defence minister saying all options were on the table.

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, has repeatedly described Iran's uranium enrichment as a threat to its existence.

"I have been asked by Saudi journalists about when Israel plans to bomb Iran. We are not planning to bomb Iran," far-right Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said during a visit to Russia.

"We do not have a need" to carry out attacks on Iran, Lieberman told reporters in Russian when asked about a possible strike against Iran. "Israel is a strong country and we can defend ourselves."

Israel has in the past said all options were on the table in preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons, and this was repeated later by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who refused to rule out a military strike on Iran.

"I repeat what I have always said, we are not taking any options off the table," Barak said to reporters in Washington after meetings with officials from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.

ISRAELI PLANS

Many analysts have speculated that Israel, which has carried out long-range air exercises and is developing a missile interceptor system underwritten by the United States, could launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.