Barak: Unlikely Iran would nuke Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 6 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says it is unlikely Iran would use a nuclear bomb but there's no way to responsibly forecast what the "ayatollahs" might do.

In an Independence Day interview with Haaretz, Barak said he didn't think Iran would use a nuclear bomb against any country in the region.

"Not on us and not on any other neighbor," Barak said.

Barak said he thinks the era of dictatorships in the region is ending and he thinks Iran could collapse as have other governments.

"I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the dictatorships in the Arab world, including the Iranian one," Barak said in the interview, which took place Thursday.

Barak offered some insight on his thoughts concerning the possibility of a nuclear bomb attack.

"I don't think that anyone can say responsibly that these ayatollahs, if they have nuclear weapons, are something you can rely on, like the Politburo or the Pentagon," Barak said.

"It's not the same thing. I don't think they will do anything so long as they are in complete control of their senses, but to say that somebody really knows and understands what will happen with such a leadership sitting in a bunker in Tehran and thinking that it's going to fall in a few days and it is capable of doing it? I don't know what it would do."