Israel earmarks £1bn to strike Iran nuclear sites as minister warns ‘time is running out’

ISRAEL’S government has claimed there is no diplomatic solution to ending Iran’s nuclear programme and that a confrontation is “only a matter of time”, as its ministers drew up a £1billion funding package for strikes on the regime’s facilities.

Avigdor Liberman, Israel’s hardright finance minister, said there was “not a lot of time” before that confrontation occurred, in an interview with Walla news website.

“No diplomatic move or agreement will stop the Iranian nuclear programme,” he added.

Israel frequently threatens military action against Iran’s nuclear programme and is suspected of carrying out several covert strikes on nuclear facilities over the past two years.

Western powers remain hopeful Iran can be persuaded to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for easing sanctions that have frozen billions of dollars in Iranian assets worldwide.

The rhetoric came amid reports that the Israeli government has earmarked five billion shekels (£1 bn) in its new budget for a potential military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Channel 12, an Israeli broadcaster, said the funding would secure aircraft, surveillance drones and munitions for attacks on fortified underground sites, such as nuclear centrifuge plants.

Talks in Vienna between Western powers and Iran on restoring the Obama-era nuclear deal have been locked in a stalemate for months.

The deal, which was abandoned by the Trump administration, lifted crippling sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, warned at the UN General Assembly last month that his government had “hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance”.

He added that “words do not stop centrifuges from spinning”, referring to Iran’s alleged attempts to build a nuclear weapon.

Tehran strongly denies the claims and says it has been unfairly targeted by the United States and its allies.