JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A decision by Israel on whether to attack Iranian nuclear facilities remains "very far off," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Akbar Salehi said the country is prepared to resume negotiations on its nuclear program with other countries, and Russia repeated its opposition to sanctions and military threats against the Islamic Republic, The New York Times reported.
In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States' position on Iran remains unchanged -- "that the path is open to Iran to get right with the international community, to fulfill its international obligations, abide by its commitments, and that the international community, including the United States, would be willing to work with Iran if it were willing to do that -- to ensure, for example, that it had access to nuclear technology for non-military purposes."
Carney said Iran's "refusal to engage in serious discussions" concerning its nuclear program "has led to the consistent ratcheting up of pressure on Iran, led by the United States, but together with many, many international allies and partners."
"But the fact remains that there is an alternate course here available to Iran should it respond to the letter from the P5-plus-1 and be willing to live up to its obligations," Carney said. "This is a simple choice that has been available to Iran from the beginning.
"The P5-plus-1 structure is in place. If the Iranians are serious about restarting talks, then they need to respond to that letter. That is the channel by which -- the mode by which the restarting of those talks would take place."
Barak's comments came in an Israeli radio interview when he was asked whether the United States had sought advance notice of a possible Israeli strike on Iran, The Washington Post reported.
"We haven't made a decision to go ahead with this matter. We have no date for making decisions. The whole thing is very far off. … I don't want to provide estimates. It's certainly not urgent. … I don't suggest that we deal with this as if it's about to happen tomorrow," Barak said.
The interview came a day before a visit to Israel by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is to meet with Barak, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the Israeli army chief of staff, and possibly with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The talks are expected to focus on responses to Iran's nuclear program.
Tehran says its nuclear efforts are solely for peaceful purposes, but Western nations and Israel say the country is working toward building nuclear weapons, and a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, supports that conclusion.
Israel has suggested it could strike Iran if sanctions don't stop what it calls Iran's attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said at a news conference a military strike on Iran would be a "disaster" and that sanctions being proposed against the country were "seriously intended to have a smothering effect on the Iranian economy and the Iranian population, probably in the hopes of provoking discontent."
Salehi, meanwhile, said during a visit to Turkey his country was ready to resume negotiations with the outside powers trying to reach a settlement on its nuclear program -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
