12  Safar  1430 /  Saturday 07 Feb 2009

TEHRAN (FNA)-

US State Department's top analysts in 1980s Aaron David Miller assessed that Israeli Prime Ministerial frontrunner Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to convince the new US president to attack Iran.

"The Israelis will be pushing (Washington) to ensure that Iran never gets to that point and failing that, they will consider a military strike," Miller was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The former top analyst, who is a former US Middle East peace negotiator and is currently an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said late on Friday that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to convince President Barack Obama that a military attack is the only solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

"It need not be conclusive or threatening, but it will be very serious and ... scare the daylights out of the president that unless the international community mobilizes to address the situation, the Israelis will," added Miller.

Tel Aviv, which has in its possession the sole nuclear arsenal in the Middle-East, accuses Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of having plans to develop nuclear weaponry.

Tehran, however, insists that it enriches uranium for peaceful purposes and that it has the right to the technology already in the hands of many others.

Israeli leaders have intensified their go-to-war rhetoric against Iran in the run-up to Tel Aviv's elections set for February 10.

Netanyahu said last week that his first mission, if elected prime minister, would be to "thwart the Iranian threat" once and for all.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has also stressed that possible Washington-Tehran talks "should be kept short and followed by readiness to take action."

The Iranian top officials have announced that Tehran's reaction to any potential military action by US or Israel will be rapid, comprehensive and devastating.