JERUSALEM, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday that Iran continues to enrich uranium, calling on the international community for a "Plan B" against Tehran.
"We're in a race against time," Gantz said in a briefing to ambassadors from 80 countries, according to a statement issued on his behalf.
Since August, "Iran has gone from 10 kg of 60-percent enriched uranium to 50 kg," he added.
Israel wants "a good deal," which would include tighter international monitoring of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and have no expiry date, Gantz said.
"But if there's no deal, we must activate a Plan B - to use force, to exert economic pressure and political pressure," the Israeli defense minister added.
Israel has been tightening regional cooperation with old and new allies in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain with which Israel signed normalization agreements in 2020, Gantz told the ambassadors.
"We are also strengthening our cooperation with the U.S. Army in the region through CENTCOM," he said, referring to the U.S. Central Command, one of the combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense whose area of responsibility covers Middle East and Central Asia.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who also took part in the briefing, said Israel intends to continue to cement ties with its regional allies, citing the late-March Negev Summit in which six foreign ministers from the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, the United States and Israel held two-day talks in the Negev Desert in southern Israel.
"The Negev Summit is the right model for regional cooperation in order to fight terrorism and strengthen the diplomatic ties that will ensure regional stability," Lapid noted. ■
