Britain’s foreign secretary discussed efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear
program in an Israeli newspaper column. Yediot Achronot published an Op-Ed on Wednesday by
Margaret Beckett seeking to reassure Israelis of the efficacy of Western sanctions aimed at persuading Tehran to abandon its
atomic ambitions.
“The international community is applying relentless pressure.
It comes from a strength of consensus that the Iranians have consistently
underestimated,” Beckett wrote. “That international cohesion is the best weapon in our armory,
and it will only stick if we maintain our patient and determined approach. But again, no one – above all the Iranian regime itself – should confuse that commitment to
diplomacy with weakness.”
Israel, like the United States, has hinted that it
could resort to pre-emptive military strikes as a last resort against Iran’s
nuclear program. The European Union traditionally has been opposed to force.
