Following meetings with senior Israeli government officials in Jerusalem on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that a nuclear-armed Iran was "not an option". However, Westerwelle reportedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to press ahead with a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to a high-ranking German official quoted by the newspaper ‘Haaretz’, Westerwelle told Netanyahu that an Israeli military operation at this time could dissolve the international coalition against Iran.
The German foreign minister called on Tehran to hold "substantial negotiations" over its controversial atomic program. “We share the Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear program," Westerwelle said at a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
"We will keep up sanctions and diplomatic pressure on Iran. We still see room for diplomacy," said Westerwelle. Barak said that Israel knew that "Germany is a pillar in the international community, standing against Iran's continued movement towards military-nuclear capability, playing a part in both the sanctions and the diplomacy, and whatever might be needed to block them."
Sanctions by Western states as well as the UN Security Council aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear activities have had a crippling effect on its economy, with its currency – the rial – on Sunday sliding to a new record low against the dollar.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Cyprus said on Saturday they were considering imposing further sanctions on Iran, voicing frustration at negotiations with the Islamic republic that have all but stalled.
