Ambassador: US ready to strike Iran

US plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is "fully available", Washington's ambassador to Israel has said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms. The United States has said it considers military force a last resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes. But remarks by ambassador Dan Shapiro were the bluntest warning so far to Tehran that its refusal to cooperate could lead to the use of military force by the US or Israel. "It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force," Shapiro said in remarks about Iran aired by Israel's Army Radio.  "But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but it's ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready," he continued The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany have been using sanctions and negotiations to try to persuade Iran to curb its uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors, medical isotopes, and, at higher levels of purification, fissile material for warheads.  New talks opened in Istanbul last month and resume on May 23 in Baghdad. Iran's top nuclear negotiator warned against pressure by the West, insisting such strategy would not work with Tehran. "Cooperation is what we can talk about in Baghdad," said Saeed Jalili in comments broadcast on state television. "Talks based on the definite rights of the Iranian nation." "Some say time is running out for the talks," he added. "I say time for the [West's] pressure strategy is running out." Israel, which is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, feels threatened by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran going nuclear and has hinted it could launch pre-emptive strike. However many analysts believe the United States alone has the military clout to do lasting damage to Iran's nuclear programme. In January, Shapiro told an Israeli newspaper the United States was "guaranteeing that the military option is ready and available to the president at the moment he decides to use it". US senators are meanwhile considering additional legislation that would increase pressure on Iran, with further measures to punish foreign companies for dealing with Iran in any capacity. The will focus on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran's national oil and tanker companies. A senior Republican congressional aide called revisions made to the sanctions package "significant," and said the bill could have repercussions for the Baghdad talks. "The Iranian reaction will be interesting to watch," said the aide, who expects Republicans will support the request by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leder, to move ahead. The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear arms, and is trying to get Iran to halt its controversial nuclear enrichment, which is a potential pathway to atomic weapons. ehran denies the charge and insists its programme is for peaceful purposes, such as energy generation and cancer treatment.