Threats will not work on Iran

Former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi warns against threats by the US and Israel of a military attack on Iran, saying such measures will bear no fruit.

“I am more optimistic about resolving issues concerning Iran’s nuclear case at this point in time than I have been in the past,” Prodi told ILNA on Tuesday.

“Iran can easily express its readiness to hold nuclear negotiations with authorized bodies so that they will dispatch their inspectors to Iran to inspect the country’s nuclear sites,” he added.

The remarks came a day after US President Barack Obama said a military attack by Israel or the United States against Iran would not be the “ideal way” to solve the issue of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

“We don’t think that a war between Israel and Iran or military options would be the ideal way to solve this problem,” Obama said on Monday.

“We continue to be open to diplomatic solutions to resolve this,” the US president went on to say.

The United States and its ally, Israel, over the past few years have repeatedly threatened to launch a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. They claim that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.

Iran says its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

Iranian officials have warned that any act of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran’s nuclear facilities would receive a firm response and could result in a war that could spread beyond the Middle East.