Israeli, US defense chiefs meet

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Monday with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates for talks that an Israeli adviser said would focus on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed that Gates and Barak met at the Pentagon but would provide no details on the substance of the discussions.

"They met for about an hour," he said. "The meeting was part of standard defense consultations."

The meeting comes amid a continuing diplomatic impasse with Iran over its nuclear program and just two days after Tehran announced that its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz has now expanded to 6,000 centrifuges.

In an interview with Israeli public radio, Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to Barak, said the...