US Defense Secretary Urges Iran Response by September

US defense secretary Robert Gates and other senior US officials are engaged in a drive to breathe new life into faltering regional peace moves. Photo by xinhuanet.com

US defense secretary Robert Gates has urged Iran to respond to US diplomatic overtures by September.

His Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak indicated that military action remained an option on Iran, following talks between the two in Jerusalem, the BBC reported.

Senior US officials are engaged in a drive to breathe new life into faltering regional peace moves.

US envoy George Mitchell met Egypt's Hosni Mubarak for talks and will meet the Palestinian president later.

He has already been in Syria, drumming up regional support for the new US initiative.

Both Mitchell and Gates - as well as two other senior US envoys - are meeting Israeli leaders as part of the bid to get the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalled for six months, back on track.

US-Israeli relations have become strained since US President Barack Obama demanded a halt to all Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

 

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