London: Iran is seeking to build an "inter-continental nuclear weapon" that threatens the west, British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned, urging Israel to allow time for sanctions to force the Iranians to change their strategic stance.
Cameron was speaking after the cabinet was briefed for an hour by the national security adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, on the imminence of the threat to Britain posed by Iran, the Guardian reported.
It is the first time that Cameron has made such an explicit warning.
It is understood that the government`s National Security Council is also looking at potential reprisals in Britain if Israel were to launch a pre-emptive strike against an Iranian nuclear weapons site.
US President Barack Obama will brief Cameron next week on the US approach to any such strike during their meeting in Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an American Jewish group in Washington Monday that diplomacy and sanctions had failed and that "none of us can afford to wait much longer" to act against Tehran.
Six global powers Tuesday agreed to resume negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme, calling for "concrete and practical steps" to restore international trust in Tehran`s stated intentions.
Tehran says the programme is for purely peaceful purposes. But the west and Israel allege it is a front for an effort to build a nuclear arsenal, or at least establish the capacity to build a bomb at short notice.
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