Israel wants time limit on Iran nuclear talks

Israel’s Vice Prime Minister said on Friday there should be a time limit on any talks between the West and Iran over its controversial nuclear program and stressed that his country would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran.

"We have to think together how long this dialogue should last,” Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told army radio.

"What is certain is that neither Israel, nor the Arab countries, Europe and the United States can tolerate an Iran armed with a nuclear weapon," he said.

On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated Iran's first nuclear fuel production plant, but said Tehran was ready for talks with the West if those discussions were based on "justice and respect."

"Today in Natanz there are around 7,000 centrifuges installed," Iran's atomic chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh added.

American skepticism

But the U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said his country “certainly could view” major advancement in Iran’s nuclear program with “skepticism.”

"Iran has in the past, you know, announced that it is—it was running a certain number of centrifuges that didn't really pan out with regard to the IAEA's (International Atomic Energy Agency's) own estimate. So it's not clear," Wood added.

For her part, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We don't know what to believe about the Iranian program. We've heard many difference assessments and claims over a number of years."

She added that the United States is involved with talks by world powers with Iran in part to "enforce the international obligations that Iran should be meeting to ensure that the IAEA is the source of credible information."

Clinton pointed to "a great gap between what the IAEA observed about seven weeks—six, seven weeks ago and what the Iranians are now claiming."

Iran has in the past, you know, announced that it is—it was running a certain number of centrifuges that didn't really pan out with regard to the IAEA's

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood