Lieberman: Israel will decide on Iran war independent of US

The Israeli foreign minister says the decision to attack Iran is one that Israel will make regardless of what course of action the US decides to take. Avigdor Lieberman’s remarks, made in an interview with Israeli public radio on Sunday, came shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in Washington to discuss Iranian nuclear activities with the US President Barack Obama. "Clearly, the United States is the biggest world power and the biggest and most important country that is a friend of Israel, but we are independent," he added. Lieberman said the ultimate decision on how to deal with Iran's nuclear activities would be made by Israel. The Israeli foreign minister claimed such a decision should be made "calmly, weighing the pros and cons. All this chatter doesn't help anyone." The US and Israel have been escalating war rhetoric against Iran during the past few months, claiming that Tehran seeks to produce nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear energy program. On March 2, Obama threatened Iran with a military strike over the country’s nuclear energy program, telling the Atlantic magazine that the US is “not taking any option off the table” in order to stop Iran's nuclear energy program. Meanwhile, a poll conducted ahead of Netanyahu’s Washington visit showed that only 19 percent of Israelis support an Iran strike without US backing. Iran has denied Western allegations about its nuclear energy program and has promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country. Tehran has also warned that any such measure could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.