SHARON DISCUSSES IRAN'S NUKES WITH U.S. GOV.

Sharon warns US of Iran's nuclear threat
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Vice President Dick Cheney and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams for the second time in two days Tuesday, with the focus this time on the entire Middle East, not the Palestinians. Officials in Sharon's entourage said Tuesday's talks dealt with the whole range of regional issues, with particular attention paid to Iran's nuclear threat, and possible responses if Teheran continues its march toward nuclear arms capabilities.

Senior Israeli officials said Tuesday that the decision on when to bring the Iranian issue to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions should not be dragged out indefinitely. The important time issue to keep in mind, they said, was not the date when Iran would acquire a nuclear bomb, but rather when it would pass the "threshold of no return" and develop the technology that would allow it – in the future – to build such a weapon.

Sharon told US President George W. Bush on Monday that Iran was only one technological step away from enriching uranium and, from that point, achieving nuclear capability was just around the corner, Channel 2 reported. Sharon's military secretary, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, presented to Bush updated documents and satellite images of Iran's nuclear program. According to Israel Radio, the images showed that the Iranian nuclear program was at a "very advanced" stage.

Israeli officials called on the US urgently to present the issue before the Security Council, which would enable the imposing of sanctions on Teheran.