Israel warns Iran on nuclear arms

Israel’s prime minister delivered his strongest comments yet on Iran’s nuclear program, warning Thursday that Tehran would have “a price to pay” if it does not back down from its atomic ambitions and hinting that Israel might be forced to take action.

Ehud Olmert did not specifically threaten to cripple Iran’s nuclear program in a military strike, as it did 25 years ago in Iraq when it bombed an unfinished nuclear reactor there. But he repeated what he said a day earlier after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow – the Iranians “have to be afraid” of the consequences of their intransigence.

In the past, Israel has said it would not lead a campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, but would act in concert with world powers that are similarly worried.

But with Iran rejecting various compromise proposals and insisting on enriching uranium – a process key to developing nuclear weapons – Olmert has been raising the stakes. He said Israel cannot reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran.

United Nations

U.N. halts voting on council seat

The U.N. General Assembly will suspend voting over an open Latin American seat in the U.N. Security Council for a week to do other work and allow time to break a deadlock between the two countries bidding for the spot, Guatemala and Venezuela, officials said Thursday.

Guatemala has led Venezuela in 34 of 35 of the votes held since the start of Monday, but can’t muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the 192-nation General Assembly to win the seat.

Yet Venezuela refuses to withdraw, saying that to do so would be to cede victory to the United States, which has campaigned against it.