Israel and the U.S. disagree on how soon a military attack on Iran would be necessary, Israel’s defense minister said Thursday, even after admitting Iran currently has no nuclear weapons program.

 

Ehud Barak claimed Iran is trying to make its civilian nuclear program immune from attack before making a decision to actually develop nuclear weapons, and said Israel “cannot afford” to wait for that completely speculative hypothetical situation.

The consensus in the U.S. and Israel is that Iran has no nuclear weapons program and has so far demonstrated no verifiable intention to do so. To suggest that an attack is warranted is to claim the right of preventive war, which flies in the face of both international law and any sane conception of just war.